Since Nitis, the [Blood Shield] had been Khan's most powerful defensive spell. It had saved his life many times, even when against opponents he wouldn't normally be able to face.
Still, the alien spell had harsh requirements and drawbacks. It was heavy on the body, especially as its power increased, and the materials necessary to improve it grew rarer at each new checkpoint.
For once, Khan felt able to ignore those issues. His fame and wealth would grant him the necessary materials even without the powerful Radola. Also, the transformation and his new level were bound to make him suitable for the [Blood Shield]'s next checkpoint, allowing him to put the problem aside.
However, a glaring issue remained, and the Radola's level was to blame for that. Khan's control had never stopped improving, but the Tainted animal remained a material in the realm of fourth-level warriors. He might need multiple attempts to create what he needed. He might even fail.
The cage had preserved the Radola's corpse by freezing it and creating an isolated environment, making it currently unsuitable as a material. Khan needed to wait for the ice to leave, and the machine could help him with that.
Khan tapped on the floor to open the training hall's menus. The structure was already connected to the cage, so he could tinker with the area's temperature to accelerate the defrosting process.
In the meantime, Khan started another procedure that made him approach a wall. The training hall requested his genetic signature and scanned his eyes and nape before generating a few results.
'Seventy-one percent,' Khan read on the wall. 'I knew it.'
Almost three months had passed since the promotion, but Khan's attunement with mana had barely moved. He had taken it slowly only in the first period before going all-out with his training again, but that didn't change the outcome.
Khan couldn't claim to be surprised. Increasing the attunement with mana became harder and slower at the higher levels, and he also was a special case.
Meditating could lead to good results, but even humans found it too slow. Khan was beyond them due to the transformation, so it made sense for his growth to fall behind his peers.
It didn't take a genius to reach similar conclusions. A superior machine required more fuel, and bodies were no different. Khan had also long since accepted that the human methods didn't work too well for him. He needed something stronger to compensate for his inability to use infusions, and a suitable technique already existed in his arsenal.
'I need the [Blood Vortex],' Khan concluded in his mind, and his thoughts immediately flowed toward possible solutions.
The pilot license gave Khan the opportunity to fly into environments with natural mana. Yet, reaching other planets in the Harbor's system took time, which he didn't have.
The moon would have been perfect for Khan's needs, but its poor atmosphere made it almost devoid of mana. He would have already considered using a respirator to fix the air issue otherwise.
The garden in the Harbor's hidden floor popped into Khan's mind, but that couldn't do either. Synthetic and natural mana lived together there, which would affect the [Blood Vortex]'s performance. Special areas there might be able to meet his needs, but only a deeper relationship with Professor Parver would reveal them.
'Maybe I can dedicate a few hours during the missions,' Khan guessed. 'It might be doable once I know what I'm dealing with.'
Khan let his mind wander a little longer before reapproaching the cage. A few touches confirmed that the defrosting process was over, so he used another menu to make the training hall provide multiple tools.
The Radola's body was relatively weak even if it belonged to the warriors' family, so Khan had no problem cutting it with the saws and knives provided by the hall. The issues started when he had to squeeze out the clotted blood from the previously-frozen flesh, but his mana and the other menus eventually solved that.
The procedure took time, and Khan's careful approach slowed it down even more. The Radola was big enough to grant multiple attempts, but he wanted to avoid mistakes anyway, which wasn't easy with that powerful flesh getting in the way of his control.
Nevertheless, Khan showed exceptional patience and slowly worked his way toward a decent product. Touching, smelling, and licking it told him that the procedure had failed, but getting so close on his first try gave him hope.
Khan put aside the failed product and prepared himself to restart the process, but a call reached his phone. Reading Jenny's name on the hall's menus hinted at something urgent, so he answered while most of his attention remained on the Radola.
"Captain, I'm afraid I can't delay this any further," Jenny went straight to the point while her voice resounded from the floor.
"What is it now?" Khan cursed.
"It's Mister Solodrey, sir," Jenny explained. "He has tried to contact you since you got your license."
"I understand," Khan sighed, massaging his temples to prepare his mind for the incoming conversation. "Send him through."
Jenny didn't add anything. She closed the call to deal with the matter, and Khan approached a wall in the meantime. He wanted to take a good look at Monica's father, so he prepared the hall for a video call.
It didn't take long before a new call arrived, and Khan immediately answered it. Still, his dirty hand appeared in his view at that point, and his messy appearance also became evident once the hall's cameras activated. The alien procedure had covered Khan in blood, even tainting his face, but it was too late to do anything about it.
A rectangular face soon appeared on the hall's wall. A stern expression featuring brown skin, dark, bottomless eyes, and short black hair filled the screen, releasing a pressure that Khan felt able to experience.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Solodrey," Khan announced, disregarding the pressure to focus on being polite. After all, that was Monica's father. If possible, he wanted to get on his good side.
"I'm afraid I don't have time for pleasantries," Mister Solodrey stated in his deep voice. "You have already wasted my afternoon, Captain, so I'll keep this short."
"As you wish, sir," Khan nodded, partially glad that Mister Solodrey wasn't even looking at his appearance. His eyes wandered left and right without focusing on the call even once.
"Your relationship with my daughter lost me money," Mister Solodrey explained. "I've done the math, and the amount is in the billions of Credits."
Khan couldn't even imagine such large sums, but Mister Solodrey's detachment was impossible to miss. The desire to keep things polite vanished at that realization, and a scorning tone joined Khan's reply. "So, it's about money."
"I don't expect you to understand," Mister Solodrey casually responded, "But I will get that money back, one way or another."
"Sir, you could just give Monica to me," Khan suggested. "I'll take care of her and cut your losses until I'm able to pay you back."
"You misunderstand, Captain," Mister Solodrey exclaimed. "That's the value my daughter lost when you took her virginity. As a whole, she is still worth a lot more."
Anger surged inside Khan. Mister Solodrey was treating Monica as nothing more than a valuable item, but he didn't get a chance to vent since the call ended. Mister Solodrey had left right after saying his piece.
"Good talk," Khan commented before punching the wall. He didn't hold back, so the skin above his knuckles broke, leaving a red mark on the metal surface.
The pain caused by the injury brought some clarity. Sadly enough, Khan knew that Mister Solodrey's math was correct. He had learnt enough about the descendants to understand where that sum came from.
Mister Solodrey wasn't speaking about mere Credits. As a political currency, Monica could earn her family many assets and allies, ultimately bringing her value close to what Mister Solodrey had calculated.
Monica wasn't the only one in that situation. Everyone inside the Global Army had a value connected to their position and achievements. For example, Khan's financial network was worth far more than the actual Credits in his profile.
According to that reasoning, Monica forsook some opportunities when Khan took her first time. That quality wasn't too crucial with poorer families, but Mister Solodrey could have used it to increase her value, which explained the financial loss.
Khan hated himself for even understanding those topics, but that was the political game, and he had to play it. Still, knowledge alone wouldn't get him anywhere, and sheer strength also had its limits.
'I need all the help I can get,' Khan acknowledged. Merely thinking about that option made him angry, but he had far higher priorities. His pride couldn't exist when Monica was at stake.
Khan sent a simple message before returning to his main task. Failing to improve the [Blood Shield] wasn't an option anymore, so he completely immersed himself in the procedure. His mana seemed able to feel his mental state, and his control grew firmer as a consequence.
The second product failed to meet Khan's requirements, and the same went for the third. Yet, on the fourth, Khan obtained something that could work, and another successful round of tests made that gory item end up in his mouth.
Khan prepared himself for the usual harsh reaction that improving the [Blood Shield] caused, but something different happened at that time. His chest felt heavy and tried to make him unable to breathe, but that weight moved, splitting in multiple directions to reach every corner of his body.
A grunt escaped Khan's mouth when the blood vessels in his throat clotted and forced him to lift his head. The instinctive desire to puke eventually made him end on all four, but he closed his teary eyes to keep the contents of his stomach in check.
Clotted blood vessels appeared in Khan's view as soon as he reopened his eyes. The alien technique was moving through his hands, eventually reaching his fingertips before slowly dispersing its weight.
A similar process unfolded everywhere in Khan's body, leaving him gasping for air once the weight dispersed. Saliva fell from his open mouth while the soreness of his skin filled his mind. He felt as if a firm object had crawled through his flesh, but that uncomfortable sensation slowly waned.
Khan summoned the [Blood Shield] as soon as he managed to sit. The blood vessels in his right palm clotted as usual, creating the defensive ability he knew far too well. Everything was working as intended, which put the blame for the unexpected reaction on something else.
'Is it because of the transformation?' Khan wondered, unbuttoning his uniform to check his chest. Everything was fine there, and the same went for the rest of his body.
Khan performed a few more tests before disregarding the matter. It made sense for his body to react differently to the [Blood Shield]. It basically confirmed how much he had changed after absorbing the Nak's hand.
The old Khan would let those realizations afflict him a bit longer, but he immediately moved to other tasks now. Dinnertime had already passed, and he needed to regroup with his friends to establish a plan of action. The lessons would resume the next day, so they needed to be on the same page.
Khan left orders to store the remains of the Radola before departing from the embassy. His dirty appearance shocked a few soldiers along the way, but no one hindered his return inside the cab. A few mustered praises for his license, but that was it.
Under normal circumstances, Khan's flat would have the most cheerful symphony, but the consequences of Monica's interview were nowhere near waning. Even at that late hour, Khan found Monica, George, and Anita busy with three different calls that almost made them miss his return.
The event made the three interrupt the calls, but seeing Khan's appearance generated different reactions. George whistled and prepared another glass, Anita gasped, and Monica approached him without showing any hesitation.
"Congratulations," Monica whispered once the customary kiss ended. "I knew you would pass."
"That's not everything," Khan snickered once the two separated. "Your father called."
"What?!" Monica, Anita, and George exclaimed at the same time.
"I think it went well," Khan laughed. "I kind of proposed, but he refused."
"You did what?!" Monica shouted before shyness overtook her and made her lower her face. "We agreed to wait a few years for that."
Anita and George's mouths hung open. They didn't know what surprised them the most. The fact that the couple had already discussed that topic was shocking, but Monica's apparent compliance surpassed that.
"I just wanted to tease him," Khan reached for Monica's cheek but hesitated when he noticed all the blood on his fingers.
Monica understood what was happening and grabbed Khan's wrist to bring his dirty hand to her cheek. She even snuggled on his palm, uncaring of how dirty she got, and the gesture made them fall prey to their respective eyes.
The situation didn't allow the couple to do as they wished, and George's cough eventually forced them to separate. The notification that reached the flat's walls also changed the topic, pushing Khan to reassure his friends.
"It's fine," Khan stated. "I called him."
"Are you sure?" George questioned without adding anything specific.
"We need more brains," Khan sighed. "Also, I can't only rely on the Headmistress, can I?"
Anita and Monica wanted to ask more questions, but the opening of the elevator forced everyone to turn. Tension spread when Lucian stepped forward, and his smile carried confidence even in front of that evident distrust.
"I finally made it to the inner circle," Lucian announced while inspecting Khan's group. "I should probably bring a date next time."
