A week had to pass before the Niqols felt confident in sending the students into some areas that the monsters had conquered since the beginning of the crisis.
The sunlight had never stopped filling Nitis in that period, and the students had left the encampment every day to help contain the relentless expansion of the mutated animals. The new battlefields weren't as dangerous as the firsts since the higher-ups could study the situation beforehand, but casualties happened anyway.
Some students had been unlucky enough to witness new mutations on monsters who had fought against many packs after the initial expansion. They had accumulated enough mana to experience a new transformation due to the constant radiation that filled the surface, and the young warriors had to pay the price for that.
Khan didn't find anything out of the ordinary. The Niqols always sent him in crowded areas or on the path of violent packs, but they revised his teams depending on what they expected him to accomplish.
The Niqols didn't waste strong students on areas that they planned to lose. Khan's task there was to buy enough time for a powerful soldier to arrive or slow down the pack's advance to make it meet a different group of monsters.
Instead, the Niqols didn't hesitate to send prominent students with Khan whenever he had a chance to stop the advancing monsters. He had even been with Doku, Liiza, and other peers that could claim to be near the level of his battle prowess at times.
Khan had to vanquish a few bull-like mutated creatures capable of ignoring their huge size and cross many lands in a matter of hours. He had to slow down a pack of rats featuring many specimens that had developed unique abilities. He had even found himself in front of a swarm of bee-like insects that had turned out to be far more populated than expected.
His encounters with strange creatures didn't stop there, and those missions didn't always go as predicted. The Niqols in charge of studying each potential target or traveling pack weren't always correct, and they could even fail to gauge the actual power of some monsters.
Khan had found himself forced to retreat in areas that he had to defend, and he had defeated packs that the Niqols didn't think he could handle. Of course, that had also depended on how good his performance with the Divine Reaper was that day. Still, his groups had always managed to avoid suffering casualties. The worst he had witnessed in the week before the beginning of the hunts had been a few injured aliens.
The students had no free time in that period, but they couldn't complain since the entirety of Nitis was turning upside-down. They threw parties in the encampment every night to disperse the constant tension of the battles, and their lack of self-restraint only intensified in that period.
The encampment was silent only when all the students left to fight, but moans, laughs, and chants filled the nights. The Niqols didn't hold back to express themselves since they had constant reminders of how short life could be, and many tents remained empty as everyone preferred to sleep in someone's arms.
Khan wished to do the same, especially since his birthday had basically arrived. However, he couldn't find any opportunity to share some intimacy with Liiza without risking revealing his relationship. He couldn't justify an eventual departure with the crisis unfolding all around that safe area, and someone would notice if he and Liiza tried to hide in one of the mountains nearby.
The issue had no solution while the crisis raged and everyone remained stuck in the same encampment. Deactivating the tracker on the cube only to have a chance to sneak out would only create suspicion, so Khan had to accept that he simply couldn't see Liiza.
Azni tried to help the couple by sending messages that the two couldn't exchange through their cubes, but she found herself unable to say everything they wanted to convey to each other. Khan managed to remain vague about the most intimate parts, but Liiza suffered from the separation more than him, and Azni had to endure her explicit words.
Azni didn't even know where to begin describing Liiza's message the night before the hunts. Khan saw her blushing as soon as she tried to find words that she felt comfortable with, and the scene only made him feel worse about the whole situation. He could see Liiza's struggle from how explicit she was with Azni, but they could only suppress their urges for now.
Khan didn't depart with the other students the day of the hunts. Everyone had grown used to short hours of sleep and long time spent patrolling or defending certain areas after dealing with the effects of the sunlight for an entire week, so a few orders were more than enough to move the entirety of the camp.
Khan had the chance to inspect the empty camp that morning. Less than thirty students had remained among the tents, and all of them moved toward an open spot near the large cave to meet the two Chiefs in charge of the various missions.
Doku had respected Khan's wishes. The latter saw Liiza following Doku, Azni, and two other Niqols until they created a separate group in front of the cave. Khan and Liiza tried not to glance at each other, but their eyes inevitably met during the walk, and both of them remained in a daze for a few seconds. Luckily for them, everyone was too focused on the imminent missions to notice that short gesture.
Chief Alu and Chief Nazyr talked to each group personally to update them about the state of their target. They had already assigned them locations that had stabilized, so they only had to inform the students about eventual changes in their layout or population.
Khan had three companions, Kozh and Vakha from the second year and Ezinet from the first year. The two boys had been famous even before the crisis, while the girl from the first year had revealed exceptional battle prowess during the past week, so she became part of those teams.
Khan's group was the only one with only four members, and the Chiefs even briefed it as last. Their target was a pack of strange dog-like creatures with two heads and spikes on their backs. They were mostly Tainted animals, but they also had four monsters that had developed abilities.
The students that had slowed down that pack in the past week had identified the abilities of three monsters. One could add venomous properties to its spikes and launch them, but the last part wasn't too useful due to the peculiar position of those sharp objects. The creature couldn't really aim them at its opponents unless they stood above it.
Another monster had developed the ability to launch sound attacks through its growls. That specimen had been the main reason behind the repeated failures in stopping the pack since its blows were invisible and unstoppable. It was even hard to predict their actual trajectory.
The third known ability belonged to the smaller monster in the group. It consisted of a weak form of telekinesis that the creature could apply on itself and others. It was pretty troublesome to deal with, but the specimen's intelligence had clear limits, so it never applied it to its full potential.
The fourth monster's ability remained unknown. The students who had faced the pack had reported that they had noticed a black halo around the specimen from time to time, but they had never seen it do anything. The Chiefs hoped that the aura didn't have any effect, but they still reminded Khan's group to be careful.
The four departed after the Chiefs confirmed that the pack of two-headed dogs didn't move from their position. Khan and the three Niqols flew for less than two hours until they reached thick woods that bordered a relatively barren area. The sharp change in the environment felt quite surprising, but the reports confirmed the presence of small lakes among the trees, which explained the thriving vegetation.
Three Niqols waited for Khan's group at the edge of the woods. Some of the higher-ups had left symbols that acted as sensors among the trees, so those three could keep track of the pack's movements from their position. Still, they were from the first year of the academy, and their battle prowess was even poor, so they could only cover that role.
"The pack is still in the lake near this quadrant," One of the Niqols announced while the cube in his hands glowed.
Khan and the other members of his group could find a more detailed map of the woods in their cubes. The image even highlighted the lake mentioned by the boy and offered a deeper description of the pack.
Khan and his companions exchanged a meaningful glance that was enough to make them decide to start the hunt. They had used the two hours on their Aduns to create a vague tactic and get some sleep, so they already knew how they had to act.
"Wait!" The boy from the three Niqols stationed in the area called when he saw Khan's group approaching the woods. "Didn't the professor tell you?"
"Tell us what?" Kozh asked.
"Someone else has to join your group," The boy explained. "We heard from him just recently. He should almost be here."
The four in Khan's group showed confused expressions, but they didn't complain about that decision. It wasn't bad to have a helping hand when their opponents were four monsters with abilities.
Nevertheless, Khan ended up regretting those thoughts when a dark Aduns appeared in the clear sky and revealed its rider. The eagle landed on the surface in no time, and the tall Niqols that jumped off immediately fixed his eyes on him.
"[Ilman]," Khan announced after Ilman continued to stare at him silently.
Everyone in the academy had learnt about Khan and Ilman's fight. The Niqols had ended up blaming Ilman's dramatic character for that event, so the aliens on the scene couldn't understand why the professors had allowed him to join that team.
The silence that Ilman showed didn't help the tension that had fallen among the group either. He wore a serious expression as his glowing eyes remained fixed on Khan. Still, the latter didn't show any fear. He only appeared as confused as everyone else about that surprising presence.
"Khan!" Ilman shouted while spreading his arms.
The tension among the group intensified as Ilman fell silent right after calling Khan in a firm tone, but everyone remained speechless when the Niqols finished his line. "My friend!"
'What?' Khan thought, but he didn't have the time to study what was happening since Ilman started laughing and walking toward him while keeping his arms spread.
"Care to explain?" Khan said while taking a few steps backward, but Ilman didn't seem discouraged by his hesitation.
"Come here, my friend!" Ilman shouted again, and his broad smile eventually forced Khan to accept that hug.
"I must thank you for beating some sense into me," Ilman laughed while patting Khan's back firmly. "I've always sensed that we were meant to be lifelong friends!"
