"You are the master of love," George mocked while approaching Khan.
"I will say that everything is your fault if they try to put some blame on me," Khan sighed as he straightened his position and checked his legs.
Khan was overall fine. His mana was already fixing the faint damage suffered during the battle, but dealing with internal injuries appeared quite bothersome. His body seemed to require more care, and only the meditations could give it that.
"That sounds fair," George laughed before showing a tinge of regret. "I honestly didn't expect things to reach this point."
"I know," Khan said while patting George's shoulder. "It's just my bad luck."
"Says the guy who has human and Niqols girls trying to get under his robe," George scoffed.
"I feel the sudden urge to contact Natalie," Khan joked, and George promptly shot a worried glance toward him.
"C'mon, man," George pleaded. "We are friends, right? We don't do this to each other."
"I should even ask Azni to bring Havaa along more often," Khan continued while walking toward the square where they usually waited for Professor Supyan.
"Spare me from your anger," George almost begged Khan as he followed behind him. "I like Natalie."
"How did you even end up with Havaa then?" Khan asked as honest confusion filled his face.
"A man has urges!" George proudly announced.
"You need to take lessons from Ilman," Khan laughed.
"Khan, we are young and talented recruits in the Global Army," George explained while wrapping an arm around Khan's shoulder and waving a hand toward the distance. "We should enjoy our popularity before a girl manages to lock us up in a marriage."
"What are you doing?" Khan asked while pointing at the hand waving in the distance.
"I'm showing you the vast number of girls that we can have before settling," George replied while making broader gestures.
"Is Natalie in the settling plan or the hand part?" Khan asked without lowering his fingers.
"I don't know," George responded before giving up on involving Khan in his jokes. "She is beautiful, and her family would be a perfect match for mine, but she is way too cold. I must say that the Niqols' straightforward character is far better. I even find it enticing."
"As long as it doesn't get to Ilman's levels," Khan added.
"As long as it doesn't get to Ilman's levels," George repeated before wearing a serious expression.
George saw that Khan wasn't saying anything about the issue on purpose, but he didn't feel good about ignoring the topic completely. Ilman's matters were partially his fault. He wasn't in control of the Niqols' craziness, but that didn't remove his share of guilt.
"I will take the blame if they try to do something to you," George announced after remaining silent for a few seconds.
Khan glanced at his companion and studied his regretful expression. Part of him wished to reveal everything about Liiza and talk about her openly, but he suppressed that urge. Khan limited himself to appreciate how his lascivious friend had an honorable character at his core.
"You don't have to," Khan forced himself to say.
"Of course I have," George declared. "Losing Nitis won't do much to my career. I will still be a wealthy soldier if they send me back to Earth. Besides, I owe you."
"You need to get out of that forest," Khan scolded. "The daylight is approaching, and you can't face it in this condition."
"Isn't it better to remain like this until the crisis is over?" George asked. "I feel I can be more efficient."
"We are already at our second crisis, George," Khan sighed. "I'm starting to believe that there will always be more problems, even if you decide to remain on Earth. You never know. An alien spaceship might fall in front of you and create a living hell."
"I have no idea how you manage to keep going and make it seem so easy," George exclaimed.
"I have many talents," Khan laughed before wearing his serious expression. "Make sure to focus on Professor Supyan's lessons. They might really help you."
"Did they help you?" George questioned.
"I have other methods to handle everything," Khan announced as Liiza's face appeared in his vision.
The duo fell silent as their square appeared in front of them. Both Khan and George needed to rest, so they didn't hesitate to sit on the active azure symbols on the ground and fall deep into their meditations.
The azure symbols among the dark grass improved their sensitivity to mana and forced their minds to notice the slight differences in that energy. The squares were open to everyone, so the two boys had picked the habit to improve their perception when they had some time to kill. Their meditations didn't require the entirety of their concentration anyway, so they could multitask during those moments.
An empty figure eventually entered their range and moved through the mana to reach them. Khan and George opened their eyes and stood up to perform a polite bow toward Professor Supyan. An awkward silence fell among the group after the Niqols replied to the gesture with a similar salute.
Professor Supyan appeared slightly annoyed and sleepy, even if it were hard to notice anything from his cold expression. His mana couldn't help in the matter either because the Niqols knew how to keep it hidden inside his body. The two boys only had that vague impression by the few strands of messy hair that stood out on his head.
"Did Ilman wake you up, [Guru]?" Khan asked after deciding that showing initiative was the best thing to do in that situation.
"He did," Professor Supyan confirmed. "He told me a funny story."
Professor Supyan reached for Khan's head at that point, and the latter instinctively bent back to avoid it. Yet, the Niqols nodded to express that he had no ill intentions, so Khan eventually let him lay a hand on his forehead.
The same white membrane that Khan had seen enveloping Zeliha covered his skin in a few seconds. He could sense its light releasing a glow that forced his flesh to inform the technique about its state. It didn't take Professor Supyan much to find the injuries on Khan's chests and shins, and his ability soon acted to heal them.
Khan felt foreign energy seeping through his skin and reaching the injured spots before attracting other brims of mana inside his body. It seemed that the technique didn't rely only on Professor Supyan's energy. It also used Khan's mana to originate a healing process that suited his body almost perfectly.
Khan couldn't help but close his eyes while a peaceful feeling spread inside him. It was strange to have someone else's energy flowing through his insides, but that process didn't cause any discomfort. Actually, it triggered sensations very similar to those felt while he was with Liiza.
"Only a few humans have experienced our [Harmony Technique]," Professor Supyan exclaimed as the membrane broke and he retracted his hand. "How was it?"
"I felt at peace, I think," Khan honestly replied while touching his injured areas and jumping on his spot.
A slight soreness still existed in his shins, but everything else appeared completely fine. The meditation had already appeased his injuries, but the healing technique had almost put an end to them. The weight on his chest had vanished, and no pain afflicted his legs now.
"The technique can only provide energy," Professor Supyan explained. "Your body does the healing. The emotions that we have to use to trigger that process often remind us about our peaceful moments. You have probably thought about something that makes you truly happy."
Khan nodded, but he couldn't suppress the appearance of a warm smile. He didn't even sense it coming. Thoughts about Liiza reappeared in his mind at Professor Supyan's words, and Khan realized once again how important that girl had become in his life.
"How is Ilman?" Khan asked when he snapped back to reality.
"He is fine," Professor Supyan snorted as his voice gained an angry tone. "We are lucky that you were his target. He might have really killed weaker students. The professors have decided to suspend him from the lessons. He won't bother you anymore."
Khan and George bowed, but Professor Supyan promptly stopped them. "Don't. It's our fault for misjudging how dangerous he could be. Hopefully your teachings will help him."
Khan's eyebrows arched when he saw Professor Supyan shooting one of his rare smiles toward him. It seemed that Ilman's report didn't stop at his action. It also involved the words that Khan had spoken during his scolding.
"Enough wasting time," Professor Supyan eventually ordered as his expression returned completely stern. "Get back on the ground and repeat the rotation of emotions. Start with the positive to reach the negative. You have yet to show me decent results in the manipulation of mana."
.
.
.
The long day eventually went by. The lessons brought Khan and George to their limits, and even the other recruits didn't handle them too well. The latter tried their best during them, but their minds never managed to become fully involved with that type of teaching. Only the sensitivity class felt useful, but the others were too detached from the human methods for their tastes.
Khan returned inside the underground habitation with everyone, but he did that only to pick his null-grade blunt knife and a change of clothes. Kelly tried to approach him while he walked toward the staircase, but he only needed to show the cube to make her abandon any idea of starting another discussion.
Khan didn't forget to deactivate his cube's tracker before moving toward the edges of the forest and leaving with Snow. He eventually decided to sleep during the travel to add almost three hours to the four requested by Liiza.
It didn't take much before Khan entered the usual cave in the marsh and saw the familiar white eyes lightning up at its end. Liiza had just woken up, but she didn't hesitate to shoot out of her blanket to reach her boyfriend.
"I heard about Ilman," Liiza announced while locking her hands on his shoulders and checking his body.
"I'm fine," Khan laughed. "Ilman never landed a clean blow on me, and Professor Supyan has used the [Harmony Technique] even."
"I didn't think he would react like that," Liiza explained in a regretful tone. "I would have tried to stop you from helping him."
"It's fine," Khan continued to laugh, but his voice gained a teasing tone. "Aren't you going to ask me more about the [Harmony Technique]? Don't you want to know what appeared in my mind?"
Liiza blushed and lowered her gaze. She released Khan's shoulders and let him wrap his hands around her waist. Her eyes went on him, and they ended up staring at each other for a while before Khan decided to speak again.
"How bad is it if I thought about you during the technique?" Khan whispered while slowly leading Liiza back on the wall at the bottom of the cave.
"Pretty bad," Liiza revealed without trying to oppose Khan's actions. "You must be desperate to see your happiness in someone known for a bit more than a month."
"I have as much desperation as you want," Khan grinned.
"Don't joke about it," Liiza pouted. "I'd rather have you face that seriously when we are together."
Liiza's back hit the wall a few seconds after her reply. The couple continued to get closer as Khan made their foreheads touch, but Liiza lowered her face to avoid falling prey to intense kisses already.
"I don't," Khan said while letting his feelings sweep away his tiredness.
The couple spent entire minutes in that position without doing much. Liiza even wrapped her arms around Khan's neck at some point, but she didn't raise her head.
"Did you accumulate four hours of sleep?" Liiza eventually asked in a sweet voice.
"Almost three," Khan announced. "I plan to do the last afterward."
Liiza's blush intensified. Khan didn't need to explain what he meant with his words, and she found herself biting her lower lip when she thought about it.
"Did you really think about me during the [Harmony Technique]?" Liiza questioned in an even sweeter voice.
"I felt the same sensations that I'm experiencing now," Khan stated.
"Khan, it has only been one month," Liiza whimpered while finally raising her face.
Khan frowned when he noticed her watery eyes. Liiza seemed on the verge of crying, but she didn't appear sad. He even tried to rely on his sensitivity to mana to understand her feelings, but the outcome of his inspection was confusing. Khan sensed that Liiza was overflowing with happiness.
"What is it?" Khan asked as he raised one hand to caress her cheek. "Talk to me."
"I'm afraid," Liiza sniffed. "I want to say it, but I think that it's too soon. I don't want to ruin everything either, and our situation is so bad. I don't know wha-."
Liiza couldn't finish her line since Khan hugged her. He could understand her completely. He had gone through a long talk about love that same morning. Revealing their feelings now would only make it harder to keep their relationship a secret. Both of them knew that, but Liiza needed him to reassure her.
"It will happen," Khan whispered while leaving a kiss on her hair. "Don't treat your feelings like a curse, especially if they are for me."
Liiza clung to Khan's head and made sure to seep her fingers into his hair. That deep and instinctive understanding felt incredibly reassuring. She almost couldn't believe that they had reached that state in such a short time.
"You can ignore the hours tonight," Liiza eventually whispered. "But only tonight."
