章 41: Teleport

Khan had read the travel's schedule on his phone, but he didn't expect it to involve a teleport. He knew nothing about interplanetary voyages, but his imagination had led him to believe that everything would happen through a spaceship.

The circular hall featured a large oval platform at its center. Khan studied its feature after Martha pointed at it, and curiosity inevitably spread inside him.

The platform had two curved pillars growing out of its vertices. Tubes that contained an azure liquid ran through the two horn-like structures and gave them a powerful aura. The pipes experienced random surges of energy that made their light shift from dim to bright and gave them an unstable vibe.

Similar tubes connected the white platform to the various consoles placed on the walls of the hall. Khan managed to see a few graphs and diagrams on their screens, but he couldn't understand much. He only recognized some equations mixed with symbols that had no meaning for him.

"We inherited this technology from the Nak," Luke said without moving his eyes from the teleport. "We rebuilt their spaceships at first, but everything changed when we found the first teleport. Interplanetary travels became far easier after that."

"Spaceships are far more reliable," Lieutenant Unchai explained while turning toward the special class. "You wouldn't even think about stepping in there if you knew how many things could go wrong. The amount of synthetic mana required for the teleport is also massive, but the Global Army has made an exception for its brightest recruits."

The boys and girls in the group couldn't help but smile at those remarks. The Lieutenant was openly labeling them as the best of their course. Even the wealthiest kids felt good to gain such acknowledgment from a proper soldier.

"We set the location to the third quadrant," One of the scientists exclaimed while turning toward the Lieutenant. "You can begin to step on the teleport."

Lieutenant Unchai nodded and stepped on the platform. He gestured to the recruits to follow him, but they took a few seconds to overcome their fears.

Only a few among them were brave enough to jump directly on the structure. Khan, Luke, and Bruce didn't even hesitate after Lieutenant Unchai's gesture. Khan couldn't wait to experience the teleport, while the other two boys trusted the Global Army too much to feel scared.

'Woah,' Khan gasped in his mind as tingling sensations ran through his spine. 'I have never felt the mana so clearly!'

The two horn-like pillars seemed able to contain the mana inside the edges of the platform. Khan felt immersed in a dense liquid that caused his bones to experience faint tremors.

'This feels different from my mana,' Khan thought while closing his eyes and immersing his mind into that atmosphere. 'It's almost dirty.'

All the recruits eventually stepped inside the teleport, and Lieutenant Unchai inspected his group one last time before nodding toward the scientists.

"Exit locked in," One of the scientists shouted. "They are ready to receive us."

"Synthetic mana one hundred percent stable," Another scientist shouted. "Starting the countdown!"

The shouts awakened Khan from his thoughts. Numbers resounded in the hall and quickly moved toward zero as the azure light radiated by the many tubes intensified and became a blinding halo.

Then, azure sparks started to run through the horn-like pillars until they connected their sharp tips. The scene only lasted one second since Khan's vision suddenly went dark.

A faint pressure appeared inside Khan. That feeling intensified until pain started to spread through his abdomen. His internal organs churned, and he inevitably held his breath to endure that process.

Luckily for him, the sensation only lasted for a few seconds. Other feelings appeared as soon as the pressure afflicting his abdomen started to fade. He felt cold spreading from his knees and palms as retches tried to reach his mouth.

Khan suppressed that sensation and struggled to open his eyes. The same white metal of the teleport appeared under him, but he soon noticed that something was off when he glanced past the platform's edges.

A green metal covered the surroundings of the teleport and ended on walls that carried similar shades. Consoles that had different shapes from those seen in the training camp filled that circular hall, and unknown faces handled them.

Khan found himself kneeling on the platform, but his curiosity didn't give him the time to stand up. He had caught a glimpse of something strange, and nothing inside him dared to move until he focused on that scene.

The scientists inside the new hall were mostly humans, but there were a few strange figures that he had only seen through his phone. Khan had obviously searched the Ef'i on the network, but seeing them with his own eyes caused a completely different reaction in his mind.

The Ef'i were a humanoid alien species with pale-brown skin that featured a few yellow patches on their back. Their faces were almost human, except for their stretched four eyes, pointy ears, long heads, and complete lack of hair.

Their hands had five fingers, but black claw-like nails grew from them. The few alien scientists in the hall kept them short, but Khan knew that they could stretch them at will.

The Ef'i had large feet but a slim physique. Still, their most iconic feature was the pointy tail growing from the bottom of their back. The white medical coats of the alien scientists had a hole in that spot where that limb could come out.

Khan forced himself to straighten his position after he got a clear view of the aliens. His insides were still churning, but he was managing to hold back the desire to vomit.

The same didn't apply to most of his companions. The recruits couldn't contain themselves and began to puke directly on the platform. Yet, a thin azure layer appeared whenever those substances tried to reach the white metal and burned them in an instant.

"The first teleports always broke because of this," Lieutenant Unchai whispered when he noticed that Khan was inspecting that scene. "Imagine billions of Credits wasted because the soldiers couldn't close their stomach."

A faint laugh came out of the Lieutenant before he made his way through the crouching recruits and jumped off the platform. One of the alien scientists stepped forward to greet the soldier, and the two exchanged a firm handshake and polite smiles.

"[It's a pleasure to be back here]," Lieutenant Unchai said in the Ef'i's language.

"No need to be so formal," The alien scientist replied in perfect human language. "Our alliance has lasted for centuries already. You are welcome here anytime you want."

Khan was still in a daze. The Ef'i moved and behaved like a human, but his physique made all those gestures odd to watch. Its tail even moved whenever it tried to express a new emotion.

'This one should be a female,' Khan thought while recalling the information found on the network. 'Our sexual organs aren't compatible, but I can differentiate them from the size of the chest. Female Ef'i usually have a smaller torso.'

Khan ignored why the network of the Global Army contained those descriptions, but he felt glad that he could recognize the sex of the alien thanks to them. He would be able to avoid making wrong impressions if a conversation with an Ef'i ever happened.

Lieutenant Unchai and the alien turned toward Khan when they saw him stepping off the teleport. His companions were still trying to stand, but he was only slightly pale after the process.

"You have a resilient one," The Ef'i exclaimed.

"He should have the highest attunement with mana among them since the others have yet to receive synthetic mana," Lieutenant Unchai explained. "Khan! Come and greet Tetli!"

Khan snapped out of his daze and marched toward the duo. He stretched his hand forward as a strange "[hello]" stuttered out of his mouth.

"That wasn't too bad," Tetli laughed while shaking his hand. "Try it again. Like this: [Heeellloooo]."

Khan found the sharp change in her voice quite spectacular. Tetli went from having a harmonious human voice to the guttural sounds iconic of the Ef'i's language.

Khan nodded while committing to memory the sensations felt when he touched the alien's rough skin. He cleared his throat before trying to say the same word slowly.

Both Lieutenant Unchai and Tetli nodded when they heard Khan's second attempt. His accent was still off, but they could understand the meaning behind his word.

"You can proceed forward," Tetli eventually said while pointing at the exit from the circular all. "We'll take care of the other recruits."

"Thank you!" Lieutenant Unchai exclaimed while placing a hand behind Khan's back and pushing him toward the exit with him.

A long corridor that featured multiple body scanners and other scientists unfolded in Khan's vision. He had to go through that procedure again, but excitement inevitably began to build inside him.

Khan would be on a different planet once he exited that structure. He couldn't wait to go past that inspection and see the new environment with his own eyes.

"I thought you would be the thickheaded battle-oriented type," Lieutenant Unchai revealed as the duo walked through the scanners. "It turns out that you have something inside that shovel-shaped brain."

"I wish to become an ambassador for the Global Army one day," Khan whispered. "I know that my background isn't much, so I need to compensate by working hard."

"An ambassador?" Lieutenant Unchai gave voice to a surprised gasp. "That might take a long time. Still, it's far from impossible, especially if you show some talent in xenolinguistics."

Khan had revealed that information on purpose. Only Martha and Lieutenant Dyester knew about his goal, but he wanted to spread that idea inside the Global Army now.

Professor Norwell wanted to rope him into the Global Army, so Khan didn't want to give her too many hints. Instead, Lieutenant Unchai didn't seem to have hidden intentions. Revealing his goal to the soldier sounded like the best way to spread rumors among the higher-ups.

The duo crossed the last scanner before approaching the exit. Khan could already see barren red-brown ground past the few windows near the edges of the structure. His curiosity was about to explode, but Lieutenant Unchai suddenly placed an arm in front of him.

"They need to give you a pill to endure the new atmosphere," Lieutenant Unchai explained.

"Sir?" A human soldier who held a digital notebook called Lieutenant Unchai when he heard those words. "The boy doesn't need the pill. His attunement with mana is already past thirty percent."

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章 42: Barren

Khan wasn't aware of the connection between mana and the foreign atmosphere, but he felt slightly disappointed when he heard about his attunement.

'Five months of training to gain a mere ten percent,' Khan sighed in his mind. 'Improving through meditations is so slow.'

Lieutenant Unchai didn't share his disappointment. He shot a surprised glance toward Khan before taking the digital notebook from the soldier's hands.

The Lieutenant read through the results of the scans while mumbling a few words. Khan didn't manage to understand much. He only heard the number thirty-one among those unclear lines.

Truth be told, Khan didn't have the time to check his attunement with mana in the past months. His schedule occupied the entirety of his days, and Lieutenant Dyester even took care of refilling his stash of lotions.

Khan didn't have any reason to visit the medical bay. He also knew that becoming a first-level warrior could take entire years, so he didn't bother to keep track of his attunement. After all, the first important checkpoint was already behind him. Other percentages had no meaning until he reached fifty percent.

"Did you say ambassador before?" Lieutenant Unchai asked while handing the digital notebook back to the soldier.

Khan limited himself to nod, and the Lieutenant wore a pensive expression while his hand reached his chin. The man sized Khan with his eyes while various thoughts filled his mind.

"Try to perform well in the semestral missions," Lieutenant Unchai eventually exclaimed. "There might be something for you if your talent doesn't drop."

Khan's eyes lit up. He didn't expect his faint hint from before to give results already, but he didn't refuse that outcome. Yet, his doubts about the alien atmosphere remained in his mind.

"Can I breathe Onia's air with thirty percent attunement?" Khan asked while turning toward the Lieutenant.

"It's not a matter of breathing," Lieutenant Unchai explained. "Your body has already gone past normal human limits at this point. The mana will naturally help you absorb what you need from the air. You also have lower requirements. Give it a few hours and you'll barely notice the difference with Earth."

Khan nodded, and the duo began to walk toward the exit. His excitement was about to burst out of his body when the metal doors slid open, but the first contact with the alien air ruined the moment when he stepped on the red-brown ground.

Khan bent his back forward as he gasped for air. He could sense his lungs expanding and shrinking whenever he breathed, but they didn't seem to provide any oxygen to his tissues.

Instead, he felt like a dense liquid was trying to fill his lungs and seal his throat. He was suffocating even with his breathing working as usual. The strangeness of the sensation and the fear felt in those moments were impossible to put into simple words.

However, his lungs slowly became used to that change. The liquid that seemed to fill his organs grew lighter and lost part of its density as Khan continued to breathe.

Some life eventually returned to his flesh. Khan still felt weak and out of breath, but he wasn't dying anymore. Moreover, his condition seemed to improve whenever he concluded a breathing cycle. His body was getting used to Onia's atmosphere.

"Welcome to Onia," Lieutenant Unchai exclaimed when he saw that Khan could straighten his back and focus on the environment. "The planet seems barren on the surface, but its underground world is rich in life and vegetation."

A red-brown spectacle unfolded in Khan's vision. His eyes went past the various black buildings that filled his surroundings. He focused on the environment outside of the settlement and saw a series of short mountains stretching in the distance.

The Global Army had built the camp on a plain that featured many pieces of cracked ground. The site's layout resembled Ylaco's training camp, even if it seemed to lack a few core buildings. It was also smaller, and a tall fence reinforced with mana encircled the various structures.

The ground and the mountains in the distance feature the same red-brown terrain. There didn't seem to any change in that environment.

'It's quite hot,' Khan thought while moving his eyes toward the sky.

Onia was far warmer than Earth. His uniform didn't seem to suit that hot environment. Sweat even accumulated on his back, but everything became meaningless when he noticed the two suns illuminating the sky.

"Don't turn yourself blind," Lieutenant Unchai shouted. "Onia only has two hours of darkness, and the days here last for thirty hours. The Ef'i have superior stamina due to the harsh conditions of their planet. They are quite strong."

"Stronger than humans?" Khan asked.

"We get stronger after the evolution," Lieutenant Unchai laughed. "You can say that humans are late bloomers. Yet, some of our talents can still rival the best Ef'i even before surpassing one hundred percent attunement."

Lieutenant Unchai couldn't help but glance at Khan when he said those words. Winning the tournaments on Onia was important for the Global Army, and finding new talents was vital for that part.

A jeep eventually ran from the other side of the camp and stopped in front of the duo. The soldier riding it jumped off and performed a military salute before climbing back into the vehicle.

Lieutenant Unchai entered the jeep and gestured to Khan to hop in. Khan sat with him in the backseats, but he still glanced toward the previous structure in confusion.

"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Khan asked.

"They will be out for a bit," Lieutenant Unchai explained. "Tetli and the others can take care of them. I honestly didn't expect to have company during this part of the trip."

Khan limited himself to nod before continuing with his questions. "Where are we going?"

"This camp only has the teleport and a few structures meant for the other soldiers," Lieutenant Unchai said while patting the front seat. "We must go to another training camp. This place isn't suitable for recruits."

The jeep soon left the camp, and Khan didn't bother to question Lieutenant Unchai anymore. Onia's environment had captured his entire attention. That red-brown stillness was quite plain, but it gained a mystical vibe since it belonged to an alien world.

The car trip lasted for a couple of hours that Khan spent meditating once he grew tired of the environment. A larger training camp unfolded in his eyes once the group was about to reach their destination. The Global Army had built the site at the base of a short mountain, with some structures dug inside the red-brown rocks.

The camp didn't only feature the classic architecture of the Global Army. Humankind had moved toward functional but majestic buildings during the five hundred years after the First Impact. They had left behind part of their artistic sense to focus on the wonderful fusion between technology and mana.

However, some of the structures inside the camp had a completely different color. They didn't use the iconic black metal of the Global Army. They relied on the same green alloy around the teleport.

The style of the green buildings was also completely different. Humankind preferred smooth surfaces that featured multiple large windows, but the green structures had vast arrays of spike-like items on their entire exteriors. Their windows were even fairly small. They seemed to have battle purposes rather than a purely aesthetic nature.

"Are we going to live with the Ef'i?" Khan asked when he finished studying the green buildings.

"Smart lad!" Lieutenant Unchai exclaimed. "The Global Army thought to use this chance to give you an idea of the Ef'i. Getting used to facing aliens early on is for the best."

'Lieutenant Dyester might have been correct,' Khan thought while Lieutenant Unchai exploded into a laugh. 'The Global Army might have planned to prepare us for the tournaments.'

Khan didn't mind those hidden intentions. He simply didn't like that his organization had to keep some evident purpose a secret.

The jeep entered the training camp, and Lieutenant Unchai and Khan jumped off the vehicle. The soldier in the car then did an inversion and left the site to return to his position.

"I'll show you where you will stay," Lieutenant Unchai announced. "There won't be lessons today, so you can rest and make yourself at home."

"[Look at them]!" An alien voice that spoke the Ef'i language suddenly resounded behind the two. "[The Earthlings have arrived]!"

Khan and Lieutenant Unchai turned and saw a tall Ef'i followed by a series of younger aliens belonging to the same species. His face expressed a bit of arrogance that the differences from the humans couldn't hide.

"[Teco]!" Lieutenant Unchai suddenly shouted. "[I didn't expect to find you here on my first day. Did you manage to produce some good students this year]?"

"[Our batches only get better]," Teco scoffed. "[The Ef'i don't get lazy after victories. Humans do]."

"[Why don't we test it out then]?" Lieutenant Unchai proposed. "[Your best against my best]."

Teco snorted before giving voice to a guttural sound. The tallest Ef'i among his group stepped forward and joined his fists to perform a polite salute.

"Go on," Lieutenant Unchai said while pushing Khan forward. "Go greet your opponent."

"Opponent?!" Khan asked in a surprised tone.

Khan didn't understand anything about the previous conversation. He even ignored the meaning behind those tones.

"The Ef'i take pride in their strength," Lieutenant Unchai explained. "The best way to win their respect is to face them in a fight. You wanted to become an ambassador, right? Use this chance to establish your first alien relationship."

Khan felt that everything was moving too quickly, but he didn't turn his back on the fight. He actually felt curious about his current power.

Khan stepped forward and placed his arms behind his back before performing a military salute. His eyes didn't move from the tall Ef'i during the process. He inspected his opponent from head to toe during those short seconds.

His opponent was two meters tall and was clearly a male due to his broad chest. He was still quite slender, but a few bulging muscles ruined his harmonious physique.

"What are the rules of the fight?" Khan asked.

"Knock him unconscious," Lieutenant Unchai explained.

"I meant about man-," Khan wanted to ask, but Teco suddenly gave voice to a guttural sound and suppressed his question.

The tall Ef'i immediately bent his legs and began to summon his mana. Khan could sense his power increasing. The alien was trying to perform a complete technique.

The instincts that Lieutenant Dyester had forced his body to memorize kicked in. Khan bent his legs and shot forward in an instant. He didn't even bother to try to summon his mana.

The Ef'i was still in the process of gathering his mana when a sharp pain spread from his abdomen. His feet also left the ground as he flew back into his group.

Khan had closed the distance between the two in an instant. His leg had landed on the alien's abdomen before he could complete his technique!

Yet, the Ef'i stood up and cleaned the blood that had appeared on the corners of his mouth. The alien had endured Khan's blow. He was ready to resume the battle, and an excited smile even appeared on his face.

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