"What happened to you?" Cora asked when a half-naked scarred Khan appeared in her view.
"It's nothing serious," Khan reassured while turning to reach the couch in his living room.
"I beg to differ," Cora complained while entering the flat and letting the metal door close behind her. "How did you even hurt yourself so badly? These injuries are deep."
'And I even meditated all day,' Khan commented in his mind as he checked his injuries.
The [Blood Vortex] had gone well, but Khan had gone all-out since he had been alone. With no one to stop him, he had let the technique continue until the lines had dug deep injuries into his body.
The wounds had been so deep that a single training session couldn't make them fade. Khan's body still showed clear marks even after a whole day had passed. He would have usually refused to see Cora that night, but she had sounded too worried to deny her request.
"These marks are too precise to be random," Cora whispered as she approached Khan and inspected the wounds under his unbuttoned uniform. "You have them on your feet too. Are they due to the special project?"
"It's a unique technique that I learnt on Nitis," Khan revealed without adding any detail. "It looks bad, but it's pretty useful."
"It looks really bad," Cora added as her fingers traced the edges of Khan's injuries without touching them. "Are you sure you'll be fine?"
"They will disappear after a training session," Khan reassured.
Cora sighed before giving up on the issue. She didn't like to see Khan in that state, but arguing with him wouldn't lead anywhere. Yet, she wouldn't remain still while he was suffering.
"Come here," Cora said as she sat on the couch and patted her lap.
Khan smiled before lying on Cora's lap. She made sure to remove his hair from the injuries on his forehead before caressing him softly. She was clearly worried, but she tried to hide that feeling behind her warm smile.
"You look disappointed," Khan chuckled when he saw that Cora's gaze often ended on his bare torso.
"Why would I be disappointed?" Cora asked, pretending to be innocent.
"Maybe someone had naughty ideas about tonight," Khan teased.
Cora blushed, but she didn't contradict Khan. Her smile remained on her face as she kept caressing his hair.
"Meditate now," Cora exclaimed in a loving tone. "I don't like to see you like this."
"Give me a kiss first," Khan requested.
Cora didn't even try to refuse. She bent forward and pulled her hair to make sure that they didn't fall on Khan's injuries before leaving a cute kiss on his lips. The two exchanged a meaningful glance afterward, and Khan cursed himself for his current state.
Khan would jump on her right there and now, but she would probably be too worried about hurting him to enjoy the situation. He had to fall into his meditative state to avoid thinking about the issue, and Cora made sure to accompany his training with warm caresses.
The remaining mana accumulated under the marks began to fuse with Khan's flesh. He could see his muscles and skin reaching the intended level far faster than during regular meditations. The [Blood Vortex] had been as effective as always, and his injuries healed quickly with that high concentration of energy.
Khan opened his eyes a few hours before dawn. His injuries had disappeared, but Cora's sleeping face claimed the entirety of his attention.
'She is way too cute,' Khan commented in his mind before straightening his position and lying again to make Cora rest on him.
Cora woke up during the process, but a few caresses from Khan's side made her accept her new position. She only needed a few seconds to fall asleep again, and Khan soon imitated her.
The alarm that Cora had set on her phone rang and woke up the couple. She had lessons to attend that morning, but she didn't leave Khan's chest after putting away her device.
"You'll be late," Khan reminded as he dug a hand in Cora's long blonde hair.
Cora trembled when Khan's hand slid over her nape and neck. She tilted her head, and her big green eyes appeared in his vision. Her intense gaze carried a meaning that Khan soon shared.
"You'll skip your lessons today," Khan whispered as he straightened his back and lifted Cora.
Words became useless at that point. Khan and Cora began to kiss on the couch. Some of their clothes fell on the floor in the process, and Khan eventually lifted her to reach his bedroom.
Cora's let everything happen naturally. She kissed Khan's neck, chest, and shoulders without showing any shyness. Her fingers moved firmly on his back. There was no awkwardness or hesitation in her actions, which told Khan that the time had come.
Moans filled the flat as Khan and Cora experienced their first time together. Everything was slow at the beginning, but the two found their chemistry quickly. They could arrive at that level of confidence due to the time invested in strengthening their relationship.
Khan didn't consider himself an expert in sex, but his experience was immense compared to Cora, and she benefitted from that. When everything was over, she almost hated Khan for having waited so long.
Cora's duties and Khan's schedule vanished as they fell asleep again in each other's arms. The two woke up near lunchtime, and they ordered something from the network before resuming enjoying each other's company.
Khan would have loved to spend the entire day with Cora. Neither of them was holding back now that their relationship had taken a step forward, but he couldn't ignore his duties as a professor.
"Come back soon," Cora whispered when Khan left a kiss on her forehead and left the bed.
"Only if you wait for me here," Khan teased.
"I'm not going anywhere," Cora giggled as she curled under the sheets and took the pillow that Khan had used between her arms.
Khan found himself hating his students for the first time since arriving in Reebfell. The bed was too tempting with Cora on it. The sheets highlighted her sexy curves and made Khan stare at her while he searched for clean clothes.
"Stop," Cora eventually complained. "Go be a good professor now. You can have me when you get back."
"I will have you when I get back," Khan responded while approaching the bed to leave a passionate kiss on Cora's mouth.
Khan had to leave the flat in a hurry afterward to avoid remaining in Cora's tempting presence any longer. A stupid grin had taken control of his face, but he didn't mind it. He was happy, and he found no reason to hide his state.
It was a bit late, so Khan began to sprint through the camp's streets. The hangar appeared in his vision in no time, and he found a few students waiting inside when he crossed its entrance.
The event wasn't surprising. Some of Khan's students had become really attached to his classes in the past months, and they didn't hold back from warming up in the hangar before his arrival. However, Khan noticed how all of them didn't raise their eyes from their phones after his loud greetings.
"What is happening?" Khan asked as he approached the small group of recruits.
"Didn't you hear, sir?" Elsie was the first to react to the question.
"Hear what?" Khan questioned while glancing at the woman's device.
Scenes of explosions filled Elsie's screen. Flames and azure fumes shot in every direction as an announcer's voice described the event. Still, Khan became almost deaf to those explanations when he recognized the Slums' iconic houses among those images.
"Is this happening in Reebfell's Slums?" Khan asked as he picked up his phone to reach the menus with the news.
"No, these images are from Dewwick," Elsie explained. "Someone had set a lab in the Slums, but things went wrong."
Khan didn't need to question Elsie or the other students anymore after reaching the news' menu. Every label on his screen was talking about the event. He only had to press on one of them to obtain a general description of the matter.
Khan wasn't a simple soldier, so his phone showed labels containing classified information. It turned out that the lab had the purpose of creating Tainted animals to sell to the cities' shops. Apparently, placing it in the Slums would avoid heavy taxes and unique tech meant to ensure the environment's safety.
The news went on talking about the damage suffered by the Slums. The Global Army had already isolated the area and killed any rogue Tainted animal, but the fumes released into the environment were potentially toxic. Some citizens could even experience mutations due to the density of synthetic mana in the air.
The chance of experiencing mutations wasn't high since the synthetic mana's infective properties didn't match the Nak's energy. The Global Army had even acted relatively quickly, so no one had remained exposed to the dense fumes for too long. However, the event remained a tragedy that the soldiers wouldn't let go of so easily.
"Sir, you come from the Slums, right?" One of the students eventually asked.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you much," Khan responded before the student could continue with another question.
The news said that the lab had been quite old. It had probably been in the Slums for many years. In theory, every city could have something similar since the Global Army didn't notice it for so long.
A message reached Khan's phone while the potential consequences and problems connected to the event filled his mind. Headmaster Pitcus had called for a meeting, canceling any class that would have usually taken place in those hours.
"I'm afraid we won't have our lesson today," Khan exclaimed while storing his phone. "Warn your companions. I need to leave now."
"Don't worry, sir," Elsie reassured while showing a message that had arrived on her phone. "The Global Army has already warned everyone. There won't be lessons tomorrow either."
Khan nodded before leaving the hangar in a hurry. He found many of his students on their path to the hangar while he sprinted to return to the center of the camp. They connected the unclear and fast figure to him, but none of them had the time to voice questions.
The meeting wouldn't happen in the Headmaster's office. The latter had chosen one of the underground training halls for the event, and Khan noticed the presence of other professors when he arrived. Amber was also there, and he quickly reached her.
"Khan, are you okay?" Amber whispered when Khan reached her.
"I have no attachment to the Slums," Khan replied. "Besides, the explosions didn't happen in Ylaco."
"What do you think about all of this?" Amber continued.
"I don't know what to think," Khan honestly admitted. "Yet, there must be someone inside the Global Army behind it. The citizens of the Slums don't have the connections or resources to have access to so much synthetic mana."
"I see," Amber sighed. "The problem might be bigger than we think then."
"Do you think the other Slums have similar labs?" Khan asked.
"It's not that," Amber explained. "The soldiers stationed in the Slums are usually poor. They don't have what it takes to build a proper lab or the knowledge to make it function for years. The criminals might be important figures in the army."
Amber's hypothesis made sense, and Khan could only nod after hearing it. Whispers and low voices resounded as the professors waited for everyone to gather inside the hall, but everyone's attention went on the stage when the lights illuminated it.
"I believe everyone knows about Dewwick's events," Headmaster Pitcus announced from the stage. "I'll make it short. The Global Army is worried that more Slums might have dangerous labs, so it's putting together teams to investigate."
Khan could almost predict the words that were about to come out of Headmaster Pitcus' mouth. They made so much sense that he found them inevitable.
"Lieutenant Khan," Headmaster Pitcus continued, "The Global Army wants you to be part of the investigation."
