Khan had never been the type to slack off. He could use the free afternoon to focus on his recovery, but Milia 222 made him restless. The dock offered so many opportunities that keeping his curiosity in check was simply impossible.
Maban had cleared one of Khan's main issues. The Nele knew Lower Level 3 way better than him, so he could leave Luke's mission to them. He would only get in the way if he started asking questions randomly anyway.
That left Khan with nothing official to do, which transformed into training time in his mind. Still, that field also offered many possibilities, and his priority was to get a general idea about all of them.
The Nele's arts were in line with what Khan had learnt from the Niqols. Their methods were different, but both species shared a deep understanding and reverence toward the mana.
Khan wanted to tread that path, but he couldn't close himself to alternative methods. The human arts had clear advantages that he was still exploiting, so it was safe to assume that similar approaches could offer equal benefits. They might also double down on them.
The Tors had hit a nerve with their mysterious and secretive methods. Their interest in the chaos element had also opened a path, and Khan couldn't refrain from attempting to explore it.
Khan stood up and walked past the Nele busy with their meal. Those various groups followed him with their eyes, and some even performed nods at his passage.
The scene inevitably warmed Khan's heart. He had a long way to go, but he had finally taken a step in the right direction. The Nele had started to accept him, but that happy event strangely gave birth to conflicting feelings.
Regardless of what Khan told himself, he still experienced burdens that only leaders would face. He virtually had no obligation toward the Nele, at least for now, but he had already begun to feel responsible for their well-being.
The Nele were the perfect target of Khan's selflessness. They had suffered a lot only to end up in an environment that never missed the chance to hurt them. The very universe seemed against those aliens, and Khan felt the need to balance things out.
Of course, those feelings were nothing but immature urges. Khan didn't have the power or knowledge to help the Nele significantly. He could make their life easier by facing some of the dangers pointed at them, but that was only a temporary fix.
‘I wonder how high I should climb to improve their situation,' Khan thought as beautiful gazes continued to turn in his direction. ‘Becoming a normal ambassador wouldn't be enough.'
The political ladder in the Global Army was hard to climb, and Khan predicted that his general stance toward the aliens wouldn't play in his favor. Reaching a point where he could change things wouldn't be easy. More battles and ploys were bound to arrive, and he had to be ready to face them.
‘Power, knowledge, and political expertise,' Khan thought as the last streets of the district appeared in his vision. ‘I need all three of them.'
Power didn't need explanations, and Khan was always working on it. Knowledge was also another obvious field that Khan had constantly expanded in the past years. The political expertise was the only significant issue, especially since his lying skill were bound to stop being enough at some point.
‘Why am I thinking about her now?' Khan cursed as Monica's face appeared in his mind. ‘Damn you, Jenna.'
Monica was the perfect ticket toward the actual political environment of the Global Army. Her family was important, and she had even received a thorough education when it came to that field.
However, Khan didn't want to use Monica's feelings for his own benefit. He was willing to go quite far in countless fields, but not there. He saw himself as a monster, but he had his pride.
‘Damn it,' Khan cursed again as he recalled the kiss. ‘I might like her temper.'
Luckily for Khan, the scene that waited for him at the end of the Nele's district forced him to put those thoughts in the back of his mind. Piran stood next to the last purple lantern together with a few second-level warriors. Even Branok and Tekka were with him.
"[Are you leaving]?" Piran asked when Khan got close enough.
"[I should get back in a few hours]," Khan announced. "[Is that a problem]?"
Piran shook his head before pointing at his companions. "[Do you need an escort? It might be dangerous out there, especially for you]."
Khan didn't expect that privileged treatment, but it didn't feel too odd when he thought about it. Most Nele moved in groups. Piran was only making him part of that system.
"[I need to do this on my own]," Khan partially explained. "[I think it will be safe as long as I'm alone]."
"[Sure]," Piran quickly accepted. "[Be careful. There are many eyes on us]."
Khan couldn't help but reveal a faint smile when Piran used "us". Things were really changing, which only intensified his desire to improve his influence, and getting stronger was the first step in that direction.
Piran and the others let Khan through and watched him leaving the district. Khan didn't look back, and his attention soon went to the symphony as he tried to come up with the shortest path toward the Tors.
The dock was the same as always, but Khan noticed its few peculiar features. Workers from various species occupied landing areas or other places on the main floor, but some were clearly pretending to focus on their tasks.
The hunting season had turned the Nele district and anyone coming out of it into the most exciting piece of news. Many factions were willing to pay good money for any relevant information about their movements, and the matter expanded to the other areas occupied by Nele.
Khan had already experienced that situation, and the week spent resting didn't improve it. Actually, there seemed to be more groups keeping an eye on the district now, and the assets inside them appeared more experienced in the task.
Being at the center of the attention was something that Khan had long since accepted as part of his everyday life with Jenna. The situation barely affected him. He actually turned it into part of his training since it allowed him to keep track of the groups following him.
Those spies never got too close to Khan, but they couldn't hide their presence from the symphony. Their steps seemed to follow Khan when he inspected the sounds carried by the synthetic mana, and he expected the real world to reflect that behavior.
The symphony depicted a crowded environment, but Khan's walk remained peaceful. No one approached him. Many even tried to avoid meeting his seemingly lost gaze as he moved deeper into the dock to reach an area that almost everyone avoided.
The return of the oily synthetic mana announced Khan's arrival into areas occupied by Tors. A darker environment unfolded in his vision as he strode forward. The same light as the rest of Lower Level 3 illuminated those buildings and streets, but they appeared blacker and dirtier through his sensitivity.
Khan tried to keep his gaze straight, but his eyes often fell on the guardrails. His senses were telling him that no one was hiding there, but he couldn't quell the worry that Tors would suddenly come out from under the street.
Nothing strange happened even after Khan dived deeper into the district. The same desolation witnessed during his first trip there welcomed him. The streets were empty, and no presence stood in his senses' range.
Khan could go deeper into the district, but his calculations told him that he had already crossed the area where the Tors had stopped him in the past. Proceeding even further might be disrespectful, but he didn't know how to summon the Tors otherwise.
‘So much for coming back,' Khan sighed in his mind before sitting at the center of the street. He would wait there for a couple of hours and dive deeper into the district only if no one came to pick him up.
Meditating was always a good option, especially in that situation. Khan had yet to recover completely, and the time spent with Maban slightly delayed that process.
Minutes passed in complete peace. Those areas of the dock were relatively silent since the Tors didn't handle their activities in the open, so Khan had the chance to focus on himself and the symphony.
The synthetic mana revealed the presence of the spies. They were more distant than before, and Khan connected that issue to the Tors. Their fear of those aliens wasn't enough to scare them away, but Khan welcomed that slightly positive feature.
The wait turned out to be relatively short. A mass of energy eventually appeared under the street and made Khan jump on his feet. He didn't peek past the guardrails, and some hesitation spread in his mind when the presence multiplied.
‘Three Tors, second-level warriors,' Khan calculated as he waited at the center of the street. He didn't know why the Tors were hesitating, but he wouldn't dare to make the first move in that situation.
The masses of energy were basically identical in their lack of peculiar features. Khan felt sure that the Tors were wearing their capes. He couldn't know if the aliens under the streets were aware of him, but their hesitation in showing their faces was enough as an answer.
"I'm the chaos wielder," Khan eventually announced. "You told me to come to make a deal."
The announcement produced the expected results. Three hoods peeked past the guardrails to inspect Khan. He found two Tors on his right and one on his left, and they all stuck out their forked tongues to examine him.
Khan showed his palm and released a bit of mana. The purple-red shades given by the mana anomaly made his element unmistakable, which finally gave the Tors a reason to abandon their hesitation. The three hooded figures jumped past the guardrails to land on the street, and they all approached Khan.
"Chaos wielder," The Tors on Khan's left exclaimed in a hissing voice, and its two companions quickly echoed the statement.
"We met more than a week ago," Khan reminded. "I've come with more chaos."
The three Tors oddly bent toward Khan to make their trembling tongues get close to his face, but they eventually recalled them and straightened their position. The aliens then turned to walk deeper into the district, and only one of them stopped to voice a few words. "Come, come."
"Wait," Khan called without making a single step. "I want to make the deal first."
"Not in the open," The Tors that had stopped said in a dismissive tone. "Come, chaos wielder."
The Tors didn't remain still anymore and followed its companions, completely disregarding Khan in the process. Khan didn't know what to do. Advancing into unknown territory was dumb from every perspective, but he had himself as leverage there.
Khan heaved a deep sigh before deciding to follow the Tors. The three aliens weren't hurrying, so he caught up with them in no time. A silent walk began, and scenes he had already witnessed during the previous week flowed through his vision.
The width of the Tors' district was unclear. Khan had to use the distance from the dome to gain an idea of the surface it covered. The area was quite big and probably contained all the Tors' forces in Lower Lever 3, but its streets remained empty.
Ideas popped in Khan's mind as he followed the three Tors. If his hypotheses were correct, the Tors had probably modified many buildings in order to have enough private locations for their arts. The presence of secret passages was also possible, so he didn't hope to see much from the walk.
Khan's expectations turned out to be on point. No matter how deep the group dived into the district, the streets remained empty. The whole area felt abandoned, but Khan knew that life had to exist somewhere, and the buildings around him were his best bet.
"Can we talk now?" Khan asked when he felt that the group had gone deep enough into the district.
"Still in the open," The same Tors that had spoken before said without bothering to turn.
Khan felt helpless in front of that dismissive behavior. He couldn't understand what the Tors thought, and following them remained his only option.
More streets and buildings went by until the three aliens finally stopped before a small structure. The place was nothing more than a tent-sized house, but Khan could see from the gaps in the streets that it stretched downstairs.
"Come, come," The same Tors said while its two companions approached the house. The entrance immediately opened, but its insides remained dark even after the two aliens moved in.
The house shared the same properties as the capes. The open entrance didn't even let out any mana. Khan couldn't understand anything from his position, and something told him that questioning the remaining Tors wouldn't lead anywhere.
"Inside, chaos wielder," The remaining Tors exclaimed before stepping toward the entrance.
"Are you sure we can't talk here?" Khan tried one last time, but the Tors completely ignored him and disappeared inside the tiny house.
‘How do they expect anyone to trust them?' Khan cursed as he stared at the darkness past the entrance. ‘Maybe they just don't care or fail to see the problem altogether.'
Only a crazy man would ignore all the red flags and step forward anyway, but Khan knew that he had already made his decision. Countless bad scenarios crossed his mind, but his curiosity was stronger than his fear. Besides, he could destroy everything at the first sign of danger.
Khan took a deep breath before stepping forward and entering the house. The darkness vanished as soon as he crossed the entrance, and an azure environment unfolded in his eyes. Tubes carrying synthetic mana filled the walls and illuminated a small, empty room.
The area didn't have anything except for the tubes and the three Tors standing at its center. The mana flowing through those narrow pipes didn't carry oily properties, but the energy inside the room did, so Khan naturally focused on the former, but the floor hindered his inspections.
Most of the tubes carried the synthetic mana in the areas under the room. The traces of that energy even disappeared after crossing the floor. It was clear that something was up in that building, but Khan's attention moved to the hooded figures as soon as the entrance closed behind him.
Khan couldn't help but grow a bit tense, but his expression remained calm. Even his arms remained in their place. The urge to reach for his knife became intense, but he killed it as he repeated his previous question. "Can we talk now?"
Three forked tongues left the hoods and began to tremble. The Tors remained silent as they inspected Khan, and he did the same while waiting for the situation to change.
"We want chaos," The closest Tors to Khan eventually announced without retracting its tongue.
"I won't give it for free," Khan responded.
"Make a deal," The same Tors replied. "Name a price."
"I don't want money," Khan revealed.
"What do you want?" The Tors continued. "Name a price."
Khan fell in a bit of a pickle there. He didn't have a specific target for his requests since he knew nothing about the Tors' arts. Yet, his social skills came into play at the right time.
"I want to learn your arts," Khan exclaimed, knowing that his request was unreasonable.
A series of incomprehensible hisses came out of the hoods. They resembled gasps, but they grew quieter when the Tors turned to face themselves.
‘Do they have a secret language?' Khan wondered when he tried to make some sense out of the hisses the Tors exchanged.
Khan had yet to master the Tors' language. He had memorized most of their vocabulary and grammar on Earth, but the current scene hinted at a troublesome matter. It seemed that the Tors could communicate in ways that the Global Army wasn't aware of.
The matter was surprising but predictable at the same time. The Nele also had secret communication methods, and some other species on Milia 222 were bound to have similar tricks.
Still, the fact that Khan could remain calm after that discovery didn't speak for his situation. The Tors could converse freely right in front of him. The chances of getting scammed had instantly increased.
The Tors eventually stopped hissing among themselves and turned back to Khan, but only the closest spoke. "We don't reveal our arts."
Khan expected that reaction and immediately deployed his next move. "How can I pick something if I don't know what you can offer?"
"Credits," The Tors suggested.
"I don't want money," Khan repeated.
"We don't show our arts," The Tors reiterated.
Silence fell in the room. The negotiation seemed to have reached a wall, but Khan knew that he still had a chance. The Tors would have simply kicked him out otherwise.
"You don't need to explain everything," Khan declared. "I just need to see the basics to understand if you have something that might interest me."
The closest Tors wanted to refuse right away. A sharp hiss even began to leave the hood, but its companions promptly voiced softer cries that claimed its attention and made it turn.
Another secret conversation happened in front of Khan's calm eyes, but he inspected it with newfound confidence. The Tors were considering his suggestion, but he didn't call it a victory just yet.
The Tors turned toward Khan when their hissing whispering ended, and he prepared himself for the counteroffer. He didn't believe that those aliens would be convinced so easily, but the following line went against his predictions.
"We can show a bit," The closest Tors exclaimed, "For some chaos."
Wariness immediately overtook Khan's thoughts. He smelled a hoax, but he was also without alternative options. The situation wasn't too bad either. At worst, he would give some mana for free and abandon the idea of cooperating with the Tors.
"Okay," Khan said, and one of the Tors reached the room's back before bending toward the floor and knocking on it with its hood.
The knocking didn't have any specific rhythm, but part of the floor slid open anyway. A trapdoor with no ladder attached to it became visible in the empty room, and the Tors stuck its head inside it before voicing more incomprehensible hisses.
The symphony didn't change, so Khan focused on the bent Tors. The alien was still standing on the first floor, but almost three-quarters of its body had crossed the trapdoor. In theory, no humanoid creature could remain on its feet in that position.
The posture clearly wasn't a problem for the Tors since it easily pulled itself out of the trapdoor while holding a transparent container. The limbs weren't visible due to the cape, so Khan could only focus on the item's size. It was smaller than the one in the previous meeting, which reassured him slightly.
‘This shouldn't be big enough for a scam,' Khan thought as the Tors placed the container on the floor and he approached it to send mana.
The three Tors bent toward the container and stuck out their tongues while purple-red mana flowed inside it. The process didn't take long, and the aliens straightened their position as soon as Khan was done.
Two of the Tors left the building right afterward. The scene surprised Khan, but he could only watch as the entrance opened and closed, leaving him alone with the alien that had spoken with him until now. The container was also still in the room, but he had already disregarded it.
"Just a bit," The Tors repeated before turning toward the open trapdoor.
Khan didn't know what to do, and the Tors didn't seem to care either. Most of its attention was on the full container, and its forked tongue shook to no end as it inspected it from different angles.
"What should I do exactly?" Khan couldn't help but ask.
"Look at our arts," The Tors stated without moving its attention from the container, "But just a bit."
Dots finally connected in Khan's mind. He carefully walked past the Tors to approach the trapdoor, and the continuation of the azure tubes became visible. The lower floor appeared identical to the first, but differences became clear as he tilted his head.
The trapdoor was too small to give a complete view of the lower floor. Khan glanced at the Tors busy with the container before kneeling and placing his palms near the hole's edges.
Khan used his sensitivity to keep track of the Tors as he bent forward and peeked past the trapdoor. A new symphony unfolded in his senses as soon as he crossed the hole, but the scene that filled his view left him too surprised to check the mana.
The lower floor featured a room with a tall ceiling. It seemed taller than four meters from Khan's position, but that was only a meaningless detail compared to the target of his attention.
Khan focused on the dark-orange scales and studied them as his eyes climbed through that strange body. A thick and coiled creature hung from the wall by relying on knobs and handles placed randomly over that surface.
Two short and slim arms grew from the scales and tinkered with an array of tubes that converged at the center of the room, and a reptilian head studied it carefully. Its dark eyes even landed on Khan for a second, but they quickly returned to the pipes seemingly hoovering before them.
‘That's how they truly are,' Khan exclaimed in his mind as his curiosity reached its peak.
The Tors were far from humanoid. They had the appearance of thick snakes with tiny and slim arms growing somewhere in the upper part of their bodies. Their aspect was monstrous and scary, but Khan only felt excitement at that sight.
Khan became able to see more details once his surprise waned. The Tors wasn't exactly naked. It had wires and tubes around its body, which all converged toward a mechanical structure tied to its back.
The machine wasn't complicated, at least in its appearance. It was nothing more than a flexible metal line with a few small flasks attached to its surface. Those items and the tubes contained synthetic mana, so Khan decided to see it as a weapon for now.
The synthetic mana inside the flasks and tubes attracted Khan's attention. Each item had a different type of energy that didn't limit its diversity to mere density. Khan noticed multiple behaviors and shades, which he instinctively connected to some elements.
‘What is it doing with that mana?' Khan wondered, but another event claimed his attention and made him put those thoughts in the back of his mind.
The tubes before the Tors shared the peculiarities of the flasks. Different types of synthetic mana flowed through the array, and the alien paid great attention to them as it moved some pipes to connect them to other parts of the machine.
The process never leaked any mana. The tubes seemed to have protections against that potential issue, and the flow of energy resumed as soon as they found new connections inside the array.
The Tors played with the tubes until one of them grew brighter than the others. Its tail left the wall at that point and stretched toward the floor, where it wrapped itself around a small flask lying there.
The tail brought the flask into the slim arms' range, and the Tors grabbed it before putting it under the bright tube. The alien separated the pipe from the array, and azure drops slowly fell from it.
The drops were mana which didn't hesitate to regain a gaseous form as soon as they ended in the flask. The item prevented the energy from leaking into the room, so the Tors could continue the process until most of the tube became empty.
The Tors summoned its tail to grab the flask. The alien left the almost-empty tube alone as it lowered its head to let its limb place the container on an opening in the metal line. Adding that item brought new power to the machine, but Khan found himself distracted once again.
The almost-empty tube released its remaining synthetic mana and confirmed one of Khan's guesses. The new energy that joined the symphony carried oily properties. It clearly was the waste from the machine.
Nevertheless, being right didn't bring any joy. Khan only had room for surprise and curiosity now, but a clear question managed to get past those emotions. ‘What the fuck did I just watch?'
