No one expected that outcome. After all, Eztli had looked fine until the moment before collapsing. Still, it was impossible to deny that surprising scene. Everyone remained dumbfounded as green blood continued to come out from the Ef'i's mouth and created a large puddle.
Teco immediately shot forward to check on Eztli. The surprise on his face intensified after he placed his hand on the alien's back and studied his condition. Teco couldn't help but raise his four eyes toward Khan, who was doing his best to keep his back straight.
Khan knew exactly what had happened. He had been the only one among the crowd who had kept track of Eztli's condition during the fight. He had sensed how his kicks had continued to destabilize his opponent's insides until his body couldn't endure them anymore.
The breaking point had led to a chain reaction that had involved different organs. Entire parts of Eztli's insides had shut down due to the chaos that Khan had planted with his kicks. The Ef'i tissues, mana, and blood had basically turned on their owner after Khan's influence had become too intense to suppress.
'It works,' Khan thought as he did his best to stabilize his ragged breath.
Dizziness filled his mind, and the desperate desire to faint almost made him sit down, but he suppressed those feelings to remain on his feet. Khan had something to prove to that battle race. He had to show the Ef'i that he was a threat worthy of their respect.
The soldiers and Ef'i on the scene experienced multiple emotions when their gazes fell on Khan. They could see the many injuries that filled his shoulders, head, back, and chest, but they also noticed how he didn't appear fazed by them.
Khan was a gory mess, but he was still on his feet. Besides, his azure eyes had remained wide open even after Eztli had fallen on the ground. He appeared ready to keep fighting even if he had demonstrated his awareness of Eztli's conditions.
"[Did you hold back]?" Teco eventually asked before gesturing to his underlings to grab Eztli.
"[Yes]," Khan honestly admitted in his bad accent.
"[Good]," Teco stated while standing up. "[You wouldn't have survived in the tournament otherwise]."
Khan kept his poker face, but questions inevitably appeared in his mind. He wanted to know the true meaning behind those words, but that wasn't the right time.
"I told you that he was ready!" Lieutenant Unchai laughed while stepping forward and placing a hand on Khan's back while making sure that he didn't touch any injury.
"I'm fine," Khan whispered when he understood that the Lieutenant was trying to support him.
"I'll bring Khan to the medical bay now," Lieutenant Unchai announced while retracting his hand and wiping the blood on his uniform. "Unless you want him to fight someone else."
"I can't wait to see him at the tournament," Teco replied while wearing an odd smile. "He can beat [Eztli], but our candidates are far stronger."
Khan understood the meaning of Teco's previous words after that statement. Eztli wouldn't join the tournaments because he wasn't strong enough to be there.
The news tried to break Khan's poker face, but he managed to suppress any flicker. He could do far better, but he had still tested his real offensive power against Eztli. Stronger opponents would be hard to defeat if he didn't improve.
"How long do I have until the tournament?" Khan whispered as the Ef'i nodded at him and started to leave the scene.
"Three weeks," Lieutenant Unchai revealed.
"I hope this camp has a training hall," Khan added.
"The Global Army has already given its approval," Lieutenant Unchai explained. "You can destroy as many training dummies as you want as long as you bring the faswite home."
"The faswite is already home," Khan commented. "I need the training hall to avoid killing anyone."
"That's an arrogant claim," Lieutenant Unchai responded. "The Ef'i in the tournament won't be weak. Don't underestimate them."
Khan limited himself to nod, but a different answer rang in his mind. He could see that he was different. The Ef'i from before and most soldiers in the audience had never been part of a war, and Khan felt able to notice that. He was a proper soldier, while most of the warriors inside the camp had never actually killed anybody.
The level of his resolve was in a different realm. The Ef'i worshiped battle prowess, but Khan had already proven himself on an actual battlefield. His mind touched thoughts that those in his surroundings didn't have, which was his greatest advantage in the incoming tournament.
"Let's hit the medical bay," Lieutenant Unchai eventually announced before stepping forward.
Khan followed his superior across the vast camp while many eyes fell on him. It was easy for those soldiers and Ef'i to recognize foreigners, and his bloodied state didn't help him go unnoticed.
Multiple buildings appeared and disappeared in Khan's vision. Most of them were habitations, but many belonged to specific branches. Ylaco's training camp had wider diversity, but Onia's settlement had structures that involved advanced subjects, especially when it came to the creation of synthetic mana cores.
It turned out that the camp had three medical bays, with two of them in the outskirts of the settlement. The duo could reach one of them rather quickly, and a series of nurses dealt with Khan's injuries as soon as he entered an empty room.
The nurses applied lotions and bandages before forcing Khan to sleep. They ordered him to sleep for the rest of the day, but he limited himself to a short nap that used only a few hours. Lieutenant Unchai was still waiting for him by the time he got out of the structure.
"I will show you your habitation now," Lieutenant Unchai exclaimed as the two began to walk.
"There's no need for that," Khan responded. "I'll probably spend these weeks in the training hall. Just have someone bring a pillow."
"No mattress?" Lieutenant Unchai joked before sending a series of messages on his phone.
The Lieutenant changed direction after exchanging those words. He led Khan into a different part of the camp's outskirts to reach a giant dark building that contained various training halls. Khan could use the most advanced areas due to his status as a chaos wielder.
"Someone will bring you food three times a day," Lieutenant Unchai explained after the two stopped in front of one of the last sliding doors. "We have masters in the camp, but I'm afraid they won't be able to help you with your element. You can still request for someone to look after you when it comes to your martial arts, but something tells me that you'll refuse this offer."
"I only need you to remind me when the day of the tournament is approaching," Khan stated while unlocking the door with his phone and inspecting the dark hall.
The training hall was almost entirely empty, but spots on the floor lit up with a white light whenever Khan's feet touched them. He could find the hole where to put his phone in no time, and he even noticed the small bed in the corner.
"You can contact me through the training hall," Lieutenant Unchai announced. "Other than that, I'll try to keep your stay here as peaceful as possible. I know it's a loss for your goals, but the Global Army values the faswite far more than a potential ambassador."
"Don't worry, I understand," Khan said before nodding at Lieutenant Unchai and sealing the training hall.
Three weeks on Onia and the actual tournament could give Khan the time to establish meaningful relationships with the Ef'i or other soldiers in the camp. However, winning the faswite was more important in the Global Army's eyes, so the training hall had to be his primary concern.
'Now,' Khan thought as he plugged his phone into the training hall and began to skim through the various menus.
His idea for the tournament was quite simple. The Niqols could transform slaps into punches and hands into swords through their ability to manipulate mana. Khan wanted to apply the same theory to the Lightning-demon style, but his goal didn't involve a sharp change in his energy's nature.
The chaos element already carried destructive properties. They weren't powerful when Khan limited himself to launch his energy forward, but he could change that by applying the Niqols' teachings.
The process didn't require deep emotions or thoughts connected to images that depicted destruction. Khan had to work on his foundation to improve his attacks. His ability to manipulate mana had to grow past its current level to become threatening.
Khan didn't need to test his current proficiency level. He was competent in both his martial arts, so his training dummies had to meet a simple requirement. They needed to be resistant to internal damage.
'Three weeks,' Khan thought as the hall's workshops started to release noises. 'I can't do much in this short time, but I might be able to reach a decent level if I focus everything on a single nature.'
Khan wanted to reach Liiza's level when it came to the manipulation field, but he didn't need that right now. The tournament's rules went against him, but he could put his everything on learning how to enhance the chaos element's innate features. In short, he had to shorten the number of kicks required to knock down his opponent.
The prospect of the tournament's battles was clear in his mind. Khan could guess what would be waiting for him during the event when he used Eztli as a starting point. His opponents would be complete warriors who didn't have limitations on their spells. He would have to deal with Ef'i ready to express the peak of their power when he had to hold back his best attacks.
Eztli had almost managed to bring Khan to his limit. He could use the [Blood Shield] to protect himself from deeper injuries, but he couldn't abuse that technique. He also had access to his version of the Divine Reaper, but it was better to keep that as a secret technique for harsher battles. In short, Khan had to rely on his kicks, but he had to bring them to a decent level before the tournament.
One of the hall's walls eventually opened, and a slightly fat puppet walked out of it. Khan could sense the synthetic mana running inside its body, but he failed to keep track of the energy's movements when it crossed its chest, legs, and joints.
'Does it have reinforced areas?' Khan wondered before shooting forward and throwing a kick at the center of the puppet's chest.
Khan didn't focus on enhancing the chaos element's properties during his attack. His attention was on the mana sent inside the puppet. He made sure to follow it with his senses to understand if the training dummy met his requirements.
Sadly for Khan, the puppet's chest caved in after the kick. Its insides remained intact, but the rest wasn't as sturdy as he wished. The dummy tried to swing a punch at him after he retracted his leg, but he promptly raised his hand to launch a spell.
A red-purple light came out of his palm as violent energy shot forward. The mana expanded in a conical area and enveloped the puppet. The spell didn't affect the movement's speed, but the arm approaching Khan's face shattered before it could reach him.
Similar scenes happened to other parts of the puppet. Its chest, face, and the front part of its legs crumbled into a rain of dust and metal shards. When the spell ended, the dummy had lost most of its body, and only its back had remained entirely intact.
Khan had the chance to study the puppet's insides during his kick and after the Wave spell completed its destruction. The training hall couldn't come up with harder wires and tubes for the dummy's insides, but it could add layers to its metallic surfaces to increase its resistance. Its sensitive parts would be able to survive internal attacks like that, but Khan needed more from his opponents.
The floor lit up again, and Khan tinkered with the menus to change the stats of his opponents. He didn't want the training hall to sacrifice external defense for internal resilience. He needed the puppets to have both features off the charts to mimic the struggles that the tournament would put in front of him.
After the training hall pulled the old back, a new puppet came out of the wall. The new dummy was even fatter, but it was also taller than the previous, and its limbs were larger to contain the additional gears required to move that heavier body.
Khan didn't hesitate to shoot toward his new opponent and throw a kick aimed at its chest. The puppet endured the attack, and its metal didn't cave in after the impact. Khan also lost sight of his mana right after it entered the dummy's body, which made him smile in satisfaction.
The puppet tried to use that chance to wrap its arms around Khan, but he stepped back before falling prey to that slow hug. The dummy clearly couldn't match his speed, but he didn't need to test himself in that situation. He required something that could endure his kicks without falling apart too soon.
****
Author's notes: My mind has been a mess in the past few days, but I'm better now. Thank you for your patience.
Shoutout to vking1999 and Rogueguinness13 for their castles and to everyone else giving gifts. The system only announces the big ones, but I see all of them, and I'm grateful.
I'll probably hit the bed now, but I plan to write 2 more chapters for Chaos once I wake up.. They aren't enough to fill all the missing spots from last week, but I feel like writing them, so welp.
