Khan knew that his behavior could appear disrespectful and arrogant, but acting as a mere ambassador would only make the Nele treat him like a political figure from the human race. He didn't want that, especially since his intentions went beyond the simple search for the reinforced fabric.
Behaving normally without holding anything back was the only solution that Khan could find. Some Nele might not like his character, but he believed that they would appreciate his honesty once they accepted him. That moment might never arrive, but Khan didn't want that outcome to be his fault.
Jenna wasn't wearing anything fancy. She had a loose dark-green jumper that covered the entirety of her waist, and her dark trousers were baggy. They also had a few holes and spots, which hinted at their extensive use in the woods.
According to human standards, that style wouldn't do justice to her beauty, but Khan believed that she looked far better now than when he met her on the first asteroid. Those baggy clothes suited the relatively wild environment perfectly and almost turned Jenna into part of the woods, which was where the Nele's true splendor lay.
The man understood something from Khan's smile and Jenna's silent disregard for the recent event. Usually, the Nele would do everything in their power to kick out or even kill someone who had dared to touch them, but Jenna appeared fine with it.
"[Is he the guy]?" The man eventually asked as he massaged the spot where Khan had grabbed his wrist.
"[The leader will give an official announcement later]," Jenna announced. "[For now, she wants to talk to him]."
"[If that's what the leader wishes]," The man sighed before glaring at Khan. The gesture was a clear warning, but Khan only performed a respectful nod to reassure the Nele.
The Nele turned to approach the kids, and Khan wiped his cheek before dashing toward Jenna. She was standing on a patch of ground that the trees' roots had lifted a few meters above the ground level, but Khan only needed to perform a short jump to land at her side.
Jenna couldn't help but stare at Khan for a few seconds before turning to walk inside the woods. Khan followed her, and he didn't hold back from inspecting the trees now that he could take a closer look at them.
The green color had control over most of the woods. Large green leaves created vast crowns that shielded the area from the purple light coming from the dome and shops on the path. Short grass filled the ground, and the trunks also carried dark-green shades.
Khan felt surprised to see that the trunks were oddly soft. He could bend their surface by applying a weak pressure, and his mark disappeared as soon as he retracted his hand.
A few purple flowers also grew next to the trees' bases. They were a rare sight, but Khan couldn't fail to notice them due to the high concentration of mana in their structure.
The trees, flowers, grass, and even ground carried mana. They didn't reach the levels of Istrone, but they clearly used that energy as a core part of their lives.
"Do you like our woods?" Jenna asked when she noticed that Khan wouldn't take his eyes off the vegetation.
"They are a rare sight for humans," Khan replied.
"That's not the whole truth, right?" Jenna questioned.
"I guess I connect them to important memories," Khan vaguely explained.
"I see," Jenna whispered before falling silent.
More interesting details appeared along the way. Khan noticed a relatively vast empty spot behind a few trees that contained young Nele. They weren't doing anything. Actually, they were keeping their attention on Khan, which explained how the area was probably a training ground.
Some small huts made of wood and leaves appeared in the distance from time to time. They didn't seem to have any specific purpose, but their surfaces reeked of types of mana that Khan had never sensed.
The most surprising sight came from the seemingly simplest areas. Khan noticed provisions and much more orderly amassed in the few paths that tainted the woods. He saw bottles, pills, and much more in those piles of goods, and a vague guess inevitably formed in his mind.
"Shouldn't you store provisions somewhere else?" Khan voiced a vague question that tried to hide his real doubts.
"We stashed those goods in a hurry," Jenna revealed. "We have yet to relocate them to suitable areas."
"Is it because of your prediction?" Khan directly asked.
"Yes," Jenna uttered without adding anything else.
"I thought your predictions were far from accurate," Khan pointed out.
"We have different types of fortune-tellers," Jenna explained. "Many pretend to know how to do them, while others simply lack talent. We can keep the real data among the species like that."
Khan didn't feel the need to speak anymore. That simple statement from Jenna had already explained a lot. In short, the Nele scammed most customers, but Jenna was the real deal.
'Imminent chaos,' Khan thought as he recalled Jenna's prediction. He didn't have the time to give the matter much thought, but seeing how the Nele were already stashing provisions forced him to reevaluate the issue.
Jenna slowed down when the two were about to reach a large hut that could probably contain fifteen people. The structure had a circular shape, with wood as its wall and leaves as its roof. Something like that would usually appear quite frail, but the mana reeking out of its surfaces revealed a far different truth.
Jenna led Khan through a wooden door and pointed at one of the pillows on the wooden floor before leaving the hut. Khan sat, and the solitude of the structure gave him the chance to inspect his surroundings.
The hut's insides were extremely simple. A few soft mats and pillows covered the floor, and four small fires flickered in opposite spots next to the wall. The flames stretched on the wood and even covered it at times, but the material didn't burn. It didn't even turn dark.
The wood wasn't the most peculiar aspect of the hut. Khan felt almost drawn by the scent coming out of the flames. He experienced a relaxing effect whenever that strange odor reached his nostrils, and the mana carried by that transparent gas was also impossible to miss.
'Interesting,' Khan thought as he inspected the fires.
The Niqols mostly used cauldrons to concoct potions or substances that relied on mana, but the Nele seemed to rely on the flames to achieve similar effects. He couldn't notice any unique material burning inside the fires, but his hypothesis sounded solid anyway.
Of course, Khan didn't believe to have discovered the depths of the Nele's arts from that simple inspection. Yet, customs usually expressed the nature of a species, especially in aliens that had such a deep attachment to mana. He had found fire in the hut, so there was a high chance that the Nele relied on flames.
Two presences approached the hut's entrance while Khan was immersed in his inspection. He recognized Jenna even before she opened the door, but the other was unknown. Moreover, it felt deeper and stronger, and he placed it around the realm of a fourth-level warrior.
"Sorry for the wait," Jenna announced while leading an elderly woman inside the hut.
The woman's green hair was pale, and some of its strands had also turned grey. Her eyes were also darker compared to what Khan had seen inside the settlement, and a few wrinkles filled the corner of her eyes.
Nevertheless, the signs of old age didn't diminish the woman's charm at all. She radiated a distinct elegance that even Monica couldn't achieve. Her faint steps carried grace that Khan couldn't imitate, and her presence as a whole felt like a pulling force that made Khan focus on her.
"Nice to meet you, young man," The woman announced as she and Jenna moved a few pillows to sit in front of Khan. "I'm Caja, leader of this settlement."
"Khan," Khan replied. "The pleasure is mine."
Khan felt a bit stunned. He didn't know why, but Caja strongly resembled Zalpa in his mind. He expected something similar due to the similarities between Niqols and Nele, but the intensity of that feature left him slightly speechless.
"Which language do you prefer?" Caja asked while crossing her legs and joining her hands on her lap.
"[Yours]," Khan responded.
"You don't need to be so polite," Caja said in a lively voice as a warm smile appeared on her face.
"It's not about politeness," Khan revealed. "[I only want to practice my accent]."
Caja and Jenna remained a bit surprised, but Caja soon chuckled. "[As you wish]."
Silence fell inside the hut, but Khan didn't dare to break it. Caja was inspecting him, so he let her take her time.
"[Jenna was right]," Caja eventually exclaimed. "[You are an odd human. Well, you aren't completely human, but that's not the reason]."
Khan's eyes flickered, but he came clean right away. "[I part Nak due to an incident. I hope that won't cause problems]."
"[Why would it]?" Caja asked. "[The Nak are one of the purest expressions of mana in the universe. We respect them as a species]."
Khan's expression tried to turn cold, but he suppressed that urge. Yet, his internal conflict didn't escape Caja's attentive and penetrating gaze.
"[Do you have a problem with what I said]?" Caja wondered.
"[I despise the Nak]," Khan admitted.
"[Oh, I wasn't praising them]," Caja explained. "[I was only describing their nature]."
"[Their nature is quite destructive]," Khan pointed out. "[Do you think that the mana as its core is destructive as well]?"
"[Who said that the Nak have a destructive nature]?" Caja questioned. "[That species spread unfathomable pain throughout the universe, but that alone doesn't express their nature. You should know it since you share their iconic element]."
"[The chaos element destroys]," Khan stated.
"[Does it]?" Caja asked. "[Is that all you know about your element? Maybe you are more human than I thought]."
Khan had to drop his internal conflict and use Liiza's words to answer Caja. "[I know that chaos is the freest of the elements]."
"[You do know something then]," Caja announced. "[Did the humans teach you that]?"
"[No]," Khan replied.
"[I see why you are odd]," Caja declared. [You are part Nak, and you accept alien teachings. Calling you human doesn't do you justice]."
"[I don't like to judge people through their species]," Khan revealed. "[I can't see the difference among them]."
"[That begs the question]," Caja voiced. "[Did you become like this because of the incident, or were you always supposed to achieve this mindset]?"
"[I can't answer that]," Khan responded.
"[Try]," Caja ordered. "[Your manners are good, and your honesty is evident. Yet, I want to understand what kind of man you are before making my decision]."
"[What decision]?" Khan asked.
"[The Nele have gone through too much]," Caja declared. "[We can't trust foreigners so easily]."
Khan couldn't argue there. He forced himself to review his life, and a few things immediately became clear. His nightmares, element, and life in the Slums had been core reasons behind his open mindset. Still, everything crumbled when he thought about Liiza.
"[I would have reached this mindset one way or the other]," Khan declared. "[It might have taken longer without the incident, but I can't imagine a different version of myself]."
Caja fell silent, and Jenna didn't utter any word either. It was clear that the leader needed time to think.
"[This is indeed troublesome]," Caja announced. "[I should kick you out anyway due to the potential danger that you represent for the Nele. Still, something tells me that I won't find another human like you]."
"[I sorry, but I don't understand what you mean]," Khan admitted.
"[The Nele can't live like this forever]," Caja sighed. "[Life on Milia 222 is too unstable. We have allies, but they don't understand us. You might]."
"[I'm flattered]," Khan couldn't help but exclaim.
"[Don't you want to know how I reached this conclusion]?" Caja asked.
"[Because you saw my pain, right]?" Khan guessed.
"[You do understand us]," Caja whispered, and Jenna also ended up wearing a surprised expression.
Caja diverted her gaze before moving her eyes back on Khan. She didn't show any emotion, but Khan guessed that she was still conflicted about him.
"[Why did you come here]?" Caja eventually changed the topic.
"[I'm part of an investigation]," Khan revealed. "[Reliable sources said that you are aware of the activities involving illegal skin and similar materials]."
"[Don't insult me]," Caja snorted, and Khan widened his eyes in surprise. He really didn't understand what he did wrong.
"[Don't talk about work]," Caja continued. "[I want to know your true motives, the same motives that made you approach Jenna]."
Khan sighed in relief in his mind. It seemed that Caja was still studying his character, so he didn't hold back from revealing his true reasons. "[I want to study your arts. I want you to teach me what the humans can't]."
