Khan and George ended up talking until late. They mostly joked and reminisced about some funny events, and their cups became empty multiple times among their laughs.
Khan couldn't express how good it felt to be himself with no lies, no pretenses, and no restraints. He didn't need to hide some of his faces from George, and he shared those emotions.
When the call ended, Khan felt lighter. His doubts, hesitation, and restraints were no more. His responsibilities, pain, and new environment had placed a burden on his mind, but everything was gone now.
That change was bound to happen anyway, but George had managed to trigger it without making Khan feel guilty or crazy. The metaphor about sheep and wolf had been perfectly on point, and Khan finally accepted it.
Who cared if Khan blew up a training hall? Who cared if the families' representatives didn't like his approach? Who cared if he couldn't accept the peace of the training camp? Those parts of his personality clashed with Earth's ordinary life, but he was done worrying over them. Khan owed that to himself.
'I'm so drunk,' Khan sighed while stretching on the couch and glancing at the two empty bottles on the table, 'But it's not too late for that.'
Khan forced himself to stand up and pick up his phone to send a simple message. The curfew would arrive in half an hour, so he didn't have enough time to be with Cora in the camp's streets. Yet, she could always come to his flat.
'Khan, are you sure?' Cora texted.
'Just come,' Khan texted back before throwing his phone on the couch.
Cora's dormitory wasn't close to Khan's flat. She would take a while to reach it, which would put her dangerously close to the curfew, but Khan knew that she would come anyway.
Someone knocked at the door fifteen minutes after the message. Khan hurried to open it and found a shy Cora standing in front of the entrance. She was already red, her gaze was on the ground, and she even played with her hair to vent her anxiety.
Khan couldn't help but find the scene incredibly cute. Cora wanted to whisper something, but he took her arm and dragged her inside without saying anything.
Cora didn't even know how she ended up on the couch. Her mind was a mess. She could barely keep up with Khan's kisses and curious hands. Still, she didn't feel scared because she felt the gentleness behind his touch.
"I-if you really want to do-," Cora stuttered during one of the rare moments when her lips were free, but Khan promptly interrupted her with another kiss.
"Don't worry," Khan reassured after leaving Cora's lips alone. "I'm not taking your first time while I'm drunk. I just want more."
Khan followed his statement by taking off the upper part of his military uniform. The event stunned Cora. She tried to divert her gaze from those firm muscles, but she lost against her curiosity.
Cora had already seen Khan's bare torso, but now the situation was completely different. Her curiosity intensified as urges filled her mind, but Khan wasn't in the mood to wait.
"Cora," Khan whispered as he took her hand and placed it on his abdomen, "Do you realize that all of this is yours?"
Cora seemed to stop functioning when that idea seeped into her mind, but Khan didn't wait for her to recover. He bent down to resume kissing her, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face when he sensed Cora giving in to her urges. Her hands started to trace his muscles, and the force behind her touch intensified as she gained some confidence.
The two didn't go all the way. Khan had the chance to push Cora in that direction, but he remained true to his words. He wanted to treasure her, so experiencing such an important moment when he wasn't in a decent state would be a waste.
Cora went into Khan's bed when everything was over. She initially tried to refuse that spot since the sole idea of sleeping with Khan could make her mind explode, but that feeling transformed into cute anger when she understood that she would be alone for the night.
Khan dealt with her emotional state easily. A few kisses could do the trick since Cora wasn't thinking straight. Everything that had happened that night made her quite docile.
Khan spent the night in the training room, going over his many exercises. Everything felt better after shedding off his hesitation and worries, especially on his mental field.
The following morning saw a few cute moments between Khan and Cora, but she eventually ran away. Khan only laughed at that scene, and the same smile reappeared on his face when Amber began to assault him with questions later that day.
It turned out that Cora had opened up a bit with Amber, and she had ended up sharing last night's experience. Amber wanted to know more, but Khan kept everything for himself as he focused on his training.
Time went by peacefully in Reebfell's camp. No significant events happened, so Khan could continue to focus on his training, his students, and Cora. Everything went well in those fields, but the slight changes in his behavior didn't go unnoticed.
The recruits noticed how Khan appeared generally happier. He was still strict and brutal if his lessons needed that, but smiles appeared on his face whenever he had had to push the Tainted ape back in his cage. He seemed to enjoy having to fight, even if that only involved an easy battle.
Khan also began to sprint through the camp's streets whenever he had the chance. In theory, the soldiers had to hold back from using mana outside the training halls and specific lessons, but he didn't care. He ran when he wanted to run.
Cora and Amber noticed the effects of Khan's new mindset more than anyone else. Amber saw how Khan appeared light-hearted during their trips in Reebfell. His changes only affected a few answers or comments, but she could feel that he was generally more open about himself.
As for Cora, she ended up spending many nights inside Khan's flat. They never went all the way, but she began to feel some restlessness. She could also sense that Khan was putting more effort into reinforcing their connection, and she obviously loved that approach.
Truth be told, Khan didn't feel any different. He had only stopped holding back or worrying about the consequences of his actions. He knew that someone might not like his freedom, but he remained a hero, so no one dared to complain.
Of course, Khan's mental freedom never led to rude behaviors. He was simply more himself, and that felt amazing for him. The only issue came from his yearning for the chance to use his power properly, but his packed schedule took care of suppressing that drive.
Something happened when it came to the recruiters. Khan contacted them through Headmaster Pitcus to explain his situation, but they didn't accept his conditions. Still, they didn't wholly refuse them either.
The training to become a pilot required different structures due to the vehicles involved in the process. The Global Army couldn't build something in Reebfell's camp just for Khan, and it couldn't waste money teleporting him multiple times every week.
However, a cheap solution existed. The recruiters couldn't provide practical training without the right structures, but Khan could work on the theory with the right books.
The solution was quite simple. Khan would have to study on his own and pass theoretical tests to receive advanced books. Then, if he had time in the future, he could move to a specific structure and complete the practical part of his training.
Khan's workload increased. The subjects required to become a pilot were also quite dull since they went over different flying vehicles' technical details and structures. He needed to know how to repair his ride if something happened, so the Global Army saw that knowledge as necessary.
Pilots even had multiple regulations to follow. The universe had different jurisdictions, and the same went for Earth. The type of vehicles, the speed limit, and the other trivial matters had various rules that Khan had to memorize even before getting his hands on an actual steering wheel.
The uneventful life of the camp allowed Khan to keep up with that amount of knowledge. His expertise with the "enhanced reading" inevitably rose as he continued to rely on the technique to study and his ability to control mana improved. He was growing in multiple fields simultaneously, and a long-awaited event finally arrived.
Khan waited until deep into the night to leave his flat and run past the edges of the camp. A large backpack was on his shoulders, and a resolute expression filled his face. He had prepared for weeks for that moment. It was time to use the [Blood Vortex].
Reaching the level of skill required by the [Blood Vortex] had taken Khan a long time. His fourth month as a professor had already begun, and his birthday was getting close. Still, his focus that night was entirely on the contents of his backpack.
It was a break day, and Khan had already settled everything with Cora. She knew that he was working on a unique project, so they put on hold their intimate nights in his flat. The event felt a bit disappointing since they were close to getting to proper sex, but Khan didn't accept distractions now that his ability had reached the intended level.
Khan ran until he reached the vast fields past the camp's edges. Regular soldiers would typically use the flying platforms to visit those locations, but Khan's speed allowed him to cross that distance quickly.
That wasn't Khan's first time in the area. He didn't only see something similar during his entrance test. He had also run there multiple times to study the environment's mana in the past weeks.
The [Blood Vortex] required mana with two different natures to create a connection between the user and the environment. Khan would have normally opted for a private and isolated location, but he couldn't perform the technique in the camp due to the vast amount of synthetic mana that filled it.
The fields outside the camp were the only place that lacked that contamination, which made them mandatory for the technique. Also, they were mostly deserted, especially at night, so Khan could have his privacy there.
Khan checked that the mana around him matched what he had studied in the previous weeks. Everything met his requirements, so he dropped the backpack on the ground and began to empty it.
The items that Khan took out of the backpack had been expensive. One of them was a special bucket capable of enhancing the properties of the mana that flowed into its fabric. Reebfell didn't have cauldrons, but that first-grade item was even better than those traditional containers.
The second item was a rectangular bottle filled with dark blood. Khan had actually brought three of them in case his first attempts were to fail, but his preparations didn't end there.
His time on Nitis had taught him well. Khan's backpack had a couple of towels, a clean uniform, and a potion to ease burns or shallow injuries. He had everything he needed for his first solo experience with the [Blood Vortex], and he could barely contain himself at the thought of his imminent improvements.
'My attunement with mana has reached fifty-six percent in these months,' Khan thought as he prepared the items for the procedure. 'I'll be in my third year in little more than two months. This growth speed is too slow. I need to improve it, even if I go broke in the process.'
Khan had to pay three thousand Credits for the first-grade bucket and five thousand for the monster purchased in the "Beasts' King". His past ploy with the waiter had allowed him to buy something stronger than a mere Tainted animal cheaply. Still, the Global Army couldn't refund something that he wouldn't use for his lessons, so the payment had affected his finances significantly.
In theory, Khan didn't need a proper monster for the [Blood Vortex]. He could have picked a weaker creature and saved money, but he also had the [Blood Shield] in mind.
The requirements for the two Niqols techniques had led Khan to purchase a creature that went past normal Tainted animals so that he could use it multiple times. The Global Army would take care of it anyway, so Khan only had to seize blood and flesh when he needed them.
Khan emptied one bottle in the bucket and closed his eyes. His hands went on the item, and red-purple energy came out of them. The color of his mana immediately changed, but only partially.
His mana already carried his aura, so he only had to pay attention to the environment and the fusion between the two natures. Khan had already performed many tests without the blood, so his execution turned out to be almost perfect.
Still, almost perfect wasn't enough for the [Blood Vortex], mainly since the blood belonged to a monster. Khan found it hard to replace the innate nature carried by that liquid, and his first batch failed to meet the technique's requirements.
Khan emptied the bucked on the ground without showing any disappointment. He took his time to clean the item with one of his towels and proceeded to pour the second bottle inside it.
The second attempt succeeded, and the bucket's properties even shortened the time required by those preparations. The blood transformed into a dense dark liquid. It became the ink needed by the technique.
'I did it!' Khan shouted in his mind as a helpless laugh left his mouth and echoed in the darkness of the night.
It had taken Khan more than a year of training in the Niqols' fundamentals, but he was finally there. He had reached Liiza's level.
'You must be even stronger by now,' Khan sighed as he unbuttoned his uniform. 'I bet you would even get mad to know how far I'm willing to go tonight.'
Khan remained in that pensive state even after getting naked. He was alone at night, in a field outside the training camp, and without anything to cover his body. The soft winds blowing in the area were cold, but he felt warm at their touch.
His success in recreating the ink for the [Blood Vortex] was too meaningful. Khan had to remain immersed in his thoughts for a while before proceeding with the technique. His phone lit up and created a mirror as he dipped his fingers in the bucket and began to draw symbols on his body.
Author's notes: Shoutout to Reblex for the Magic Castle!
