The changes in Colonel Norrett's presence left a deep impression on Khan's mind. He wasn't only overflowing with mana. He was also tense, even if a thick layer of resolve tried to hide that feeling.
"I tried," Khan responded. "No one could keep up with me."
"I'm starting to like his guts," Major General Arngan exclaimed, resuming sizing Khan.
"He is right," Colonel Norrett admitted, walking toward the General but keeping his gaze on Khan. "At least you got the girl, right?"
In different circumstances, Khan might have reacted poorly to the question. However, Colonel Norrett was a friend, and his slightly disrespectful words mostly had his tension to blame.
"She was already mine," Khan replied, smirking.
"I admit I followed the matter closely," Colonel Norrett stated. "It was good entertainment."
"Not for me," Khan revealed, "But those problems are behind me now."
"Don't be so sure of that, kid," Major General Arngan commented. "Problems never end."
"It's not that," Khan announced, looking at the General again. "I'll simply eradicate the source of any problem from now on."
The clear threat wasn't meant for the General, Colonel Norrett, or the other outstanding figures at the table. Not only, at least. Khan knew they would spread rumors after the event, and that uncompromising statement was the best way to inform the entire network.
"The entertainment isn't over," Colonel Norrett laughed. "And here I hoped you would have brought me to that wedding."
Colonel Norrett was joking, but mentioning Rick's wedding still lifted a few eyebrows. Anything involving a noble could cause that reaction.
"I'm sorry," Khan smirked. "Seeing my girlfriend in a dress comes first."
Colonel Norrett laughed again, and Major General Arngan nodded to himself in approval. The two seemed quite close. They probably shared a relationship similar to what Khan had with the Colonel, but the situation didn't allow him to confirm those details.
"Well," Colonel Norrett sighed, eyeing the rest of the guests. "I'd like to do proper introductions, but the risk of contamination is high. I must start the main event."
As soon as the Colonel finished speaking, the wall on the other side of the room began to open, and natural mana washed over Khan. A grey environment unfolded in everyone's gaze, and machines tainted that otherwise pure scene.
The new area was circular, with many consoles standing at its edge. Its layout reminded Khan of a teleport room, but stark differences existed.
The floor wasn't metallic or artificial. Gray, rocky ground expanded in every direction, disappearing under the building. Khan initially thought about a moon, but the breathable atmosphere made him reject that idea.
The place also had no ceiling. The circular room wasn't an actual room. It was an open space that the building merely encircled, and looking up revealed a dark and starry sky. Khan couldn't spot any moon, but the area still had more items that required his attention.
The consoles weren't the only machines in the circular space. Two huge cylindrical containers stood at the sides of a small glass dome isolated from the outside world. Tubes connected the three items, and specific energy flowed through them.
The containers held a huge amount of mana, but Khan could immediately realize that something was off. That energy wasn't only dense. His eyes could pierce those metal surfaces and see the blinding brightness it carried, which described its tremendous power and quality.
The energy's power, density, and quality weren't the only details that stood out. Khan instinctively looked at Colonel Norrett before focusing on the containers again. Somehow, the items had the exact same mana flowing inside the Colonel.
"He noticed," Major General Arngan commented, peeking at Khan. "Kids are scary nowadays."
The General didn't add anything else while standing up. He also ignored Khan to approach the floor's edges and lose himself in the scenery. His brown eyes darted left and right to inspect every machine, but his silence didn't break.
The other guests quickly imitated the General, and Khan also found himself on the floor's edges. He could sort of guess what the procedure would involve, but explanations arrived before he could ask any questions.
"There are three types of evolution," Garret Bizelli announced. He was beside Khan, but his gaze remained fixed on the machines.
"Continue," Robert Bizelli ordered.
"They are," Garret explained, "Natural induction, extreme induction, and aided metamorphosis."
"Differences," Robert pressed on.
"The natural induction involves a slow but safer evolution," Garret explained. "It may require years of gradual transformation to acquire a body that can strive to higher levels of power."
"Extreme," Robert said.
"The extreme induction requires a huge amount of mana to perform an instantaneous transformation," Garret responded. "It's more dangerous but brings greater results. A complete success will create a body unattainable with safer methods."
"Aided metamorphosis," Robert asked.
"It's the use of certain items to alter the evolution," Garret explained. "It can drive the process toward a specific path and create unique results. Depending on the item, it can grant more power than the extreme induction."
"But it also changes you," Robert added. "Except for unique situations, it's not advisable."
"What unique situations?" Khan asked, glancing at the pair of father and son.
Robert smiled before eyeing Garret, who didn't hesitate to explain. "Illnesses can prevent natural and extreme induction. Flaws in the mana accumulated until the fifth level can cause similar problems. Truly unique items can also make the additional risk worth it."
"How?" Khan questioned.
"The Global Army once found a mineral carrying the life element itself," Major General Arngan revealed. "Is that appealing enough?"
Khan didn't answer and brought his gaze back to the open area. Colonel Norrett had already entered it and approached the glass dome, and Khan watched those scenes while his thoughts went wild.
From the last explanations, Khan vaguely understood that the evolution provided a better body, a new container capable of striving higher into the path toward power.
Of course, the topic was far deeper and more detailed than that, and Khan had even understood some specifics. Except for the third method, the evolution seemed meant to elevate soldiers according to the restrictions and qualities of their mana.
'Mana is an expression of ourselves,' Khan recalled lessons from Nitis. 'Then, the evolution turns us into more of ourselves.'
That philosophical approach had no place among humans, but Khan couldn't ignore it. He wanted to understand what that process meant on every level, and more details were bound to arrive.
Colonel Norrett wasn't the only one to step into the open area. Scientists left the door behind the guests or arrived from other parts of the building to reach the consoles and begin the preliminary procedures.
Meanwhile, Colonel Norrett removed his clothes and pressed on the glass dome to open a transparent entrance. He crossed it to sit cross-legged at the center of that small room, and his eyes closed to prepare his mind for the procedure.
The dome closed on its own, and a mana barrier soon appeared before the guests. That isolated them from the open area, but many understood its necessity. The process was dangerous, and Colonel Norrett didn't want to risk hurting them.
Of course, that didn't apply to the scientists. Everyone inside the open area conveyed a deep resolve to face whatever danger might come their way. Khan sensed that feeling even with the barrier standing before him, but the procedure soon claimed the entirety of his attention.
The glass dome expelled the mana in its insides before opening the tubes connected to its base. The containers began to release their energy, and a brilliant yellow gas invaded the isolated, transparent room.
The gas color didn't trick anyone. All the guests knew that bright smoke was mana. The scientists had altered and modified it to match Colonel Norrett's energy.
Khan briefly studied the energy's properties before focusing on Colonel Norrett. The gas partially hid his figure, but screens soon appeared on the mana barrier, showing clear scenes picked up by different scanners. Everyone could see the Colonel again, but Khan and a few others kept their eyes on the bright dome.
A change happened while Colonel Norrett remained immersed in that dense mana. The energy inside him started to shake, and his skin echoed that reaction. His flesh began to strive outward, seemingly wanting to expand past its natural constraints.
Colonel Norrett's expression remained impassible during the process. He forced his body to stay put while the mana in his surroundings flowed over his skin. At times, the energy fused with his flesh, leaving bright marks that intensified his natural reaction.
The process continued until most of Colonel Norrett's body featured those bright marks. They acted as a protective membrane that was slowly fusing with his skin, giving it room to expand. Still, the Colonel continued suppressing that growth, and that additional energy slowly dug deeper inside him.
'He's trying to attain a qualitative change,' Khan realized. 'The room is just a safe space, a chrysalis that protects him from external influences.'
Colonel Norrett was attempting a transformation inside and through mana, using himself and his very energy as the blueprint. He wasn't aiming at anything specific. He was forcing his body to reach a state more in tune with mana.
'Where does humans' higher potential come from?' Khan wondered, even if most of his attention remained on the Colonel.
The Colonel was tackling that transformation slowly and methodically, accumulating the external mana on his skin before pushing it inside his body. His flesh and organs steadily gained more power, and Khan knew for a fact that each step in that direction had to hurt immensely.
After all, each soldier experienced something similar during the meditative sessions, and Colonel Norrett was taking that to a new level. Absorbing that additional mana didn't only strengthen his flesh. It also allowed anatomical changes. He wanted to enforce a mutation, and those transformations were rarely painless.
No trace of suffering appeared on Colonel Norrett's expression. He was solely and fully focused on the procedure, and his resolve was in the right place. Khan could only imagine how long he had prepared for the evolution, but that often wasn't enough.
A grunt suddenly escaped Colonel Norrett's mouth while pushing another bright patch into his body. The mass of mana latched itself to his skin, which triggered a violent mutation, rupturing his flesh. A wound opened on his right shoulder, and blood spurted out of it.
