Chapter 97: Flashes

The group struggled to understand what had happened. It was clear that Khan had lost control of his Aduns, but they ignored how it had ended up with his uniforms in its beak.

"You aren't late," Paul quickly exclaimed before the Lieutenant could say anything. "Go get a new uniform and come back here. You have sixty seconds."

Khan nodded and patted Snow's neck before hurrying toward his room. The Aduns immediately set off, but only the male recruits gazed at the beautiful animal leaving the camp. The girls among the group couldn't help but shot glances at Khan's uncovered torso before giving voice to whispers, gasps, and giggles.

'I love that eagle!' Khan shouted in his mind while removing the snow from his torso.

The process revealed faint red marks on his back and chest. Liiza had grown more passionate during the last minutes they spent together, and her nails had left signs on many spots.

Khan didn't even have a proper way to justify the missing buttons from his uniform, so he had opted to return without it and blame Snow about the matter. The army couldn't do anything to a creature that the Niqols viewed as part of a holy species.

Messy thoughts ran through Khan's brain as he searched for a clean uniform in his room. The memories of the sensations experienced just a few minutes ago were still clear in his mind, and captivating images appeared in his vision whenever he went back to those moments.

'How can I even keep a straight face in front of her after tonight?' Khan cursed in his mind while buttoning his uniform and running back toward the center of the camp.

'We are definitely getting close to that,' Khan thought as he reached the recruits and performed a military salute after getting in line. 'Can I skip the condoms since she is a Niqols? Who can even know this? Wait, our sexual organs are compatible, but can we procreate?'

Countless doubts filled Khan's mind now that his chances of experiencing his first time seemed to increase. He knew a bit about the topic, and he valued his father's last words, but his options on Nitis were almost non-existent since his relationship could cause a major uproar.

"It's time to start the meeting," Paul cleared his throat. "We'll complete a mission with the Niqols in these days. Lieutenant Kintea will take care of explaining the various details."

Paul took a step back and performed a military salute. The Lieutenant nodded at that gesture and started walking in front of the recruits in silence. His glares made some of them lower their eyes, but Khan and many others remained unaffected by those gestures.

"Many of you have already completed missions with the Niqols," Lieutenant Kintea eventually announced. "Nitis' powerful fauna often generates problematic specimens that hurt the environment. The Niqols take care of them, and they have started to request our help more often after we proved ourselves useful."

Lieutenant Kintea waited for his words to seep inside the recruits' ears before continuing. "This mission won't be different from the others. You'll still have to help with a hunt. However, the target will be stronger this time. I know for a fact that the Niqols believe it to be a monster."

Some recruits frowned, others gasped, and a few looked around them to see if their companions knew more about the matter. Khan was the only one who didn't show any reaction. He was still thinking about Liiza with part of his mind, and the confusion of those around him confirmed that he wasn't alone in his ignorance.

"Are you even listening, Khan?" Lieutenant Kintea walked in front of Khan and asked when he noticed his lack of reactions.

"Yes, sir!" Khan promptly replied.

"What did I just say?" Lieutenant Kintea asked in a stern tone.

"We have to help the Niqols kill a monster, sir!" Khan exclaimed.

"Do you know what a monster is?" Lieutenant Kintea continued.

"No, sir!" Khan shouted.

"Why didn't you ask anything then?" The Lieutenant asked.

"I believed the Lieutenant or Paul would have explained it sooner or later, sir," Khan replied. "I didn't want to waste your time with questions, sir."

"What if we didn't say anything at all?" Lieutenant Kintea asked as his eyebrows arched.

"I would have killed the monster anyway, sir," Khan shouted, and a tinge of arrogance even seeped into his voice.

Khan had obviously given that answer on purpose. He was following Paul and Captain Erbair's advice. Playing it low and avoiding problems wasn't the right approach in that training camp.

"Hmph," Lieutenant Kintea snorted before leaving Khan and taking a few steps back so that the entire group of recruits could see him. "A monster is an unstable evolution of a Tainted animal. Mana can naturally cause mutations, even if it isn't as pure as the Nak's. Those are extremely rare events, but Nitis experiences them every once in a while due to the high number of Tainted beasts."

Khan felt actually surprised to learn that. He knew a lot about the Tainted status, and he was even aware of the chances of developing mutations from mana that didn't come from Nak. They were basically non-existent.

The chances of experiencing a second wave of mutations after achieving the Tainted status were even lower. Still, a reasonable explanation formed in Khan's mind when he thought about Nitis' situation. 

The planet featured Tainted animals that ate each other for years. In theory, that could trigger new mutations after a while. The chances were still incredibly low, but they weren't impossible anymore in front of the fauna of an entire planet.

Khan found the matter quite interesting. He didn't know how strong a monster could be, but it couldn't be weak since the army was willing to deploy an entire class for the mission. He would finally have the chance to fight and deploy his techniques against a proper opponent.

Thinking that Liiza would be on the mission made Khan's mind go back to the last moments spent together, but Lieutenant Kintea suddenly turned to leave, and Paul forced the group to salute him.

"We'll leave in an hour," Paul explained once the Lieutenant entered a building. "Prepare your stuff and rides. Miss Liiza will lead us to the gathering point where we'll join the class of Niqols. The travel should take half a day, but I'll handle the provisions."

Everyone voiced a loud "yes, sir", but they slowly turned toward Khan due to the obvious issues connected to his ride. 

"Will you be okay?" Paul asked. "I hope your bird doesn't tear your uniform apart again."

"I'll manage," Khan replied before sending a message through his mental connection.

An annoyed feeling spread from the mental connection. Snow didn't like that Khan had sent it away just to summon it a few minutes later, but the eagle couldn't say anything when it sensed Khan's helplessness.

"We are finally going to spend some time together," George announced after Paul left, "Even if you'll enjoy the travel from the sky."

"Aduns aren't as comfortable as you think," Khan laughed. "It kills your legs to be on their back for more than a few hours."

"Well, I know that you can handle that," George smirked before recalling something and clearing his throat. "Let me introduce you to everyone else."

A group of fifteen recruits stood behind George. They were the members of the class handled by Paul, the fourth human class in the entirety of Nitis.

A series of names flew toward Khan, but he only paid attention to a few of them since they belonged to recruits who stood out even among that experienced group. 

Harris was a tall, muscular guy who already had a thick beard. His azure eyes created a stark contrast with his dark skin, and his slightly long curly hair fell to the side of his face to give it a round shape.

Natalie was as tall as Khan, and she wore a cold expression that threatened to ruin her natural beauty. Her olive skin mixed perfectly with her long black hair and dark eyes, and her uniform failed to hide her well-developed curves.

Sonia was a short girl who never stopped smiling. Her clear skin, long blonde hair, and azure eyes gave her an angelic appearance, but the rusty knife that she spun around her fingers ruined her pure aura.

Veronica was slightly taller than Khan. She had a metal stick sheathed on her back, and she wore armguards above her military uniform. She had short brown hair and green eyes, and her expressions gave off a gentle feeling.

It wasn't hard to understand that George liked Natalie. He had put more emphasis on her introduction, and Veronica had even rolled her eyes during that part. Still, Natalie didn't appear interested in those attentions.

The other recruits felt rather plain. They appeared as slightly better versions of Dorian right after the end of Istrone's rebellion. Their attunement with mana was decent, but Khan didn't feel threatened by them.

Only Harris, Natalie, Sonia, and Veronica seemed to be on George's level, but Khan didn't let his senses convince him that he was the strongest among the recruits. He didn't believe that his sensitivity to mana and instincts could evaluate battle prowess accurately after a single interaction.

None of the recruits mentioned their last name. George explained that the camp had that tradition and that everyone agreed to respect it. The boys and girls didn't want their families to have some influence there. That would lower their value in the eyes of the Lieutenants and Captain.

Khan exchanged a few superficial talks with the recruits. They mostly joked about his shirtless appearance from before, but they remained polite in their behavior.

George clearly was the reason behind their behavior. The recruits often mentioned some stories about Istrone that the boy had shared in the past days now that Khan was there. Luckily for him, Snow descended in the training camp before they could question him about specific events.

Khan led Snow to the holes containing worms and made it sit on the ground as he waited for the familiar dark-grey figure to appear in the sky. The other recruits gathered around him to take care of their Ugu, but they soon understood that those creatures were too anxious next to the eagle and him.

Khan decided to move by a few meters to accelerate the process, and the group became ready in minutes. The familiar noise generated by the flapping of wings also resounded in the area at some point and announced Liiza's arrival.

The dark-grey Aduns landed among the group. Liiza inspected all the recruits while wearing her aloof expression, and her face didn't flicker even when her eyes went over Khan.

Khan did the same. His poker face was flawless, but his mind had fallen into pure chaos when he noticed that Liiza was wearing the same tracksuit from before.

"Let's move," Liiza ordered before Paul could perform one of his usual polite greetings. "The Niqols class is already on the move. We don't want to be late."

The recruits could only follow their orders. Everyone mounted their Ugu and prepared for the long travel. Only Paul handled three of those mole-like animals since two of them took care of carrying the provisions for the trip.

Khan also climbed on Snow's back and waited for Liiza to set off. The girl shot a short glance at him before performing an emotionless nod and crouching her body forward.

Her Aduns took off, and Khan noticed Paul's proud gaze on him before following Liiza in the sky. She had performed that respectful nod on purpose. Khan's companions would basically believe that he had gained the Niqols' respect due to his ability with Snow.

Khan and Liiza flew recklessly when they were among the mountain. They accelerated, dived, and laughed when they were sure that no one was watching them.

The same couldn't happen during the travel. They had to maintain a low altitude to make sure that the Ugu could follow them, and their flight had to be relatively stable.

Snow quickly grew bored about that flight, but Khan could only pat its neck to reassure it. Still, he also grew annoyed about the process, and his mind soon slipped inside the meditative state.

It would take the group half a day to reach their destination, and Khan had no intention to spend that time doing nothing. He didn't feel confident enough to sleep while mid-air, but the meditations and the mental exercises were a different matter. Snow wasn't performing any sudden movement, so he could sit on it and train without relaxing the grip on his legs.

The eleventh exercise for his element was incredibly harsh, but Khan had learnt how to approach that training by then. He had to create and revert ten intricate hexagons five times in a row to succeed in the level, and he could only face the matter step by step.

A happy feeling eventually spread inside his mind and forced him to open his eyes. Khan felt glad to see that Liiza had started to descend toward a small forest situated in a valley between two large mountains. 

The large dark leaves of those trees created an eerie scene when inspected from the sky, but Khan didn't have the chance to focus on them since a bluish light flashed in the distance every few seconds.

Khan didn't manage to see much from his position. It seemed that the sources of those flashes were lightning bolts exploding in the distance, but they weren't falling from the sky.