'What is he even doing here?' Khan wondered before recalling the many glances and peeks of his roommate. 'Did they finally decide to make me pay for the scuffle from the first week?'
Khan could sense that Samuel wasn't alone. His ability didn't allow him to understand how many recruits were hiding in the darkness, but his knowledge could fill those gaps.
'They should still be under twenty percent of attunement,' Khan thought while stopping his tracks in the middle of the street. 'Martha told me that they have started to hang out with the three harpies now that I think about it.'
The gossips were one of the best forms of entertainment inside the training camp. Martha, Luke, Bruce, and the occasional friends from the special class who ate with Khan often talked about the other recruits. Alison Blackdell came out often since her demotion to the normal course had been quite a scandal.
Khan couldn't make the connection between the four bullies and the three harpies. He considered the possibility that the three girls had enhanced the bully's anger, but he couldn't imagine that the latter were trying to ambush him due to a threat.
Still, his failure in understanding the true reason behind the ambush didn't change his situation. Khan had to deal with the four bullies, and the clock was ticking. He only had twenty-eight minutes before the curfew.
Khan suppressed a smirk as he laid his back on a street lamp and took out his phone. He pretended to browse through the menus, but his eyes never left the clock.
Minutes passed, but Khan didn't move. The clock inevitably reached twenty to ten pm, but he remained at ease.
Khan needed less than ten minutes to reach his dormitory with his running speed. Moreover, only Samuel lived in the same block. The other bullies' flats were elsewhere in the camp, so their time was running out.
'They must do something in the next five minutes,' Khan thought while keeping his eyes on the phone. 'No recruit dares to break the curfew.'
The bullies proved Khan wrong. Five minutes passed, but they remained hidden in the darkness. None of them seemed willing to move.
'What are they waiting for?' Khan wondered. 'Are they willing to drag me down with them? I have only busted their balls a few times, and that was three months ago!'
The ambush began to resemble a suicidal plan as time continued to flow. Khan almost considered the possibility that the bullies had fallen asleep in the park when only thirteen minutes separated him from the curfew. However, he didn't dare to underestimate the boys.
'Do they think that their families will get them out of eventual punishments?' Khan wondered. 'My Master is the damned Lieutenant in charge of the prisons! How can they fail to consider something like that?'
Khan used another minute to consider every possible option. The plan didn't make sense unless the bullies had access to some influential figure inside the Global Army who could override Lieutenant Dyester's authority.
'They do have wealthy backgrounds,' Khan eventually considered in his mind. 'Bloke couldn't stop mentioning his father in the prisons, and Samuel's family has already prepared synthetic mana for him. Maybe they can make Lieutenant Dyester powerless.'
Khan had no proof to back his worries, but he wouldn't dare to risk breaking the curfew. Yet, the situation would only worsen if he ignored the bullies completely. He couldn't even touch Samuel inside the flat due to the harsher regulations connected to that type of aggression.
'Eleven minutes to the curfew,' Khan thought while putting his phone back in the pocket of his trousers. 'I would have wasted the last three months if I couldn't deal with them in three minutes.'
Khan wore an aloof expression as he left the street lamp and resumed his walk back to the dormitory. He stepped into the dark area after a few seconds, but the bullies didn't move yet.
'Did they really fall asleep?' Khan wondered without stopping his walk.
A few faint steps eventually resounded behind him when he crossed the end of the street. The presences sensed by his mind drew near and reached his back in an instant.
'I need to let them attack first,' Khan sighed in his mind before closing his eyes and clenching his teeth to prepare for the imminent blows.
His arms casually covered the back of his head before sharp pain spread from four different spots. The bullies had hit Khan's forearms, back, and legs with something other than their punches.
Khan jumped forward to avoid losing his balance. He turned as soon as his feet stepped on the street, and his swift movement allowed him to face the bullies before they could catch up with him.
The dim light radiated by a nearby streetlamp allowed Khan to see the faint figures of the four bullies. He recognized Bloke, Samuel, and the other two boys from the first week. They were all wielding long bats made of cheap alloy.
The bats were already swinging toward Khan. He didn't have much time to react. He could leap backward to dodge the incoming attacks, but that would only prolong the battle.
Khan pointed his right foot before twisting his ankle and performing a counterclockwise rotation. His left leg rose while following his body, and his left foot soon met Duke's shoulder.
A cracking noise came out of Duke's shoulder. The boy didn't have the time to complete his attack, and the impact lifted him from the ground as it pushed him away.
Meanwhile, three bats landed on Khan's side and threatened to push him to the ground. However, he endured the pain and completed his form.
Khan's right arm shot forward when his leg touched the ground. He rotated his ankles and waist to fill his hook with incredible momentum.
His punch reached Kyle's jaw, and a cracking noise resounded after the impact. A few teeth also flew out of his mouth as the boy rotated on himself and fell.
Only Samuel and Bloke remained on their feet, and the two boys couldn't help but glance at their companions. Kyle had fainted, and blood was flowing out of his mouth. Instead, Duke was crouching on the ground two meters behind them, and whimpers resounded from his figure as he held his left shoulder.
Khan flowed directly into another attack. He bent his legs before leaping forward while rising his knee. Bloke promptly defended his chest with his bat, but his eyes widened when he saw his weapon curving and obtaining a V-shaped form.
Samuel swung his bat toward Khan, but the latter blocked it with his arm. Then, Khan wrapped his hand around the boy's arm, and his body began to rotate as he waited for his right leg to touch the ground.
Khan rotated his feet as soon as it touched the ground. The technique filled his body with momentum and gave his raised left leg enough power to reach Samuel's ear.
The boy lost his balance and let go of the bat, but he clung to Khan's arm before falling to the ground. Bloke exploited that chance to swing his oddly-shaped bat toward Khan's head, but the latter raised his arm to protect himself.
Bloke didn't stop attacking, and Samuel did his best to remain gripped on Khan's arm. The latter couldn't move freely with that weight disrupting his balance, but he never lowered his arms.
Bloke suddenly felt unable to move his weapon. Fear filled his face when he saw that Khan had managed to grab the bat during the last swing.
The boy quickly let go of his weapon and took a step back. His good reaction allowed him to dodge a kick aimed at his stomach, and a tinge of determination appeared on his face when he studied Khan's situation.
Samuel was still hanging from Khan's arm, and the latter had to risk his balance to deliver his kick. Khan was standing on a single leg while enduring Samuel's weight. It was the perfect moment to push him to the ground.
Bloke jumped forward and wrapped his arms around Khan's neck. He used the entirety of his body in a desperate attempt to make his opponent fall, but astonishment filled his mind when he noticed that Khan managed to endure the blow.
Khan had Samuel hanging from his right arm, and Bloke clung to his neck, but he didn't falter. His legs could endure the additional weight. He didn't even sway when the two boys struggled to push him backward.
Khan grabbed the back of Bloke's uniform and pulled. The boy did his best to push his waist back on Khan's chest, but a sharp pain suddenly spread from his groin.
A sense of weakness filled Bloke. He let go of his opponent and slid on Khan's knee while falling toward the ground. Khan had raised his leg when Bloke tried to wrap himself around his chest, and his groin ended up hitting the knee.
Khan turned toward Samuel at that point. The boy had basically fainted. He was continuing to hang from Khan's arm out of pure willpower.
'What a waste of determination,' Khan couldn't help but think as he threw a kick on Samuel's chest and flung him away.
The battle had been messy, but Khan had successfully defeated his four opponents. Moreover, he had deployed part of the footwork learnt from the Lightning-demon style, and that feat left him happy.
"You lose," Bloke weakly said while covering his groin. "You will break the curfew."
Khan promptly drew the phone from his pocket. The device informed him that the curfew would arrive in less than seven minutes. He was late, and even running might not solve the issue.
'Why are they so confident about the punishments?' Khan wondered when he noticed Bloke's satisfied smile.
The boys definitely had something in store for Khan, but he didn't know what to expect. Yet, he wouldn't risk finding it out.
'I can only pull it off one out six times,' Khan thought as he closed his eyes and bent his legs. 'I also need to prepare for thirty seconds. Still, I don't see other options.'
Bloke's smile froze when he noticed Khan's serious expression. The boy kept his eyes closed and performed deep breaths as his legs slid on the street.
Then, Bloke blinked, and confusion appeared on his face when he reopened his eyes. Khan had disappeared. Bloke didn't even hear his steps.
Everything was vague in Khan's vision. The darkness of the night fused with the dim lights of the streetlamps to create a strange spectacle that dried his eyes.
Khan tried to keep his eyes open, but a burning sensation forced them to close them every time he failed to control his body. His skin also hurt as the friction with the air scarred the flesh that his uniform didn't cover.
The faint image of a building suddenly appeared in Khan's vision. It disappeared in the next second since his eyes closed, but he still planted his feet on the ground to stop his incredible momentum.
The same burning sensation that afflicted his skin began to spread on his feet. Khan gritted his teeth, but he lost his balance and fell to the ground.
Khan kept his eyes closed as his body slowed down. His back began to hurt, but that sensation vanished once he stopped sliding on the ground.
His eyes opened and struggled to focus on his surroundings. Khan blinked many times to regain his vision, and the world slowly lost its blurriness.
The fence that encircled the dormitory soon became clear. Khan even noticed two soldiers standing on the sides of the gate and shooting confused stares toward him.
A satisfied smile appeared on Khan's face when he glanced at the clock hanging on the side of the gate. The curfew would still take three minutes to arrive. He had reached his destination on time.
"Do we need to call the medical bay?" One of the soldiers asked when Khan pointed his hands on the ground and struggled to stand up.
Khan's condition was far from ideal. His face, neck, and hands featured multiple scarred patches of skin. The sole of his shoes had also vanished during the abrupt stop, and the ground had torn his uniform.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Khan promptly said while wearing a fake smile and limping through the gate.
His feet hurt whenever they touched the ground, but he only cared about returning to his flat. Khan had stored a few lotions during those three months, so he wouldn't have to skip his usual training to visit a doctor.
The two soldiers followed Khan with their eyes before disregarding the matter. The clock soon marked ten pm, and the gate closed on its own. The easiest part of their job had finally arrived.
'I'm still far away from a complete mastery of this technique,' Khan complained in his mind as he entered his flat and crouched to take a few lotions from under his bed. 'Still, this move is great. I can't wait to learn how to deploy it in battle.'
His mind played the images of the fight against the four bullies while he applied the lotion on his scarred skin. Khan could see how inexperienced he was in that type of battle. His moves were good, but they had yet to become natural. Moreover, he often mixed them with random attacks.
The images then reached his last technique. Khan could finally understand what Dean Ulluw meant during his explanation of the Lightning-demon style. Expressing more power wasn't an issue. The problem was that the human body wasn't always able to endure it.
His scarred flesh proved how dangerous mana could be if deployed incorrectly. Khan had only performed the simplest sprint of the Lightning-demon style to reach the dormitory, but he didn't calculate how much mana he had to use.
It was clear that his body still couldn't endure that speed. Also, the execution of the technique wasn't completely perfect, especially during its end.
'Mana is so dangerous,' Khan sighed in his mind as he put the lotion under his bed, 'But it's so damn cool. How fast did I even go? Those bullies couldn't even do anything against me. I could break their bones with a few blows!'
Khan was excited about the path ahead, but he suppressed that emotion when he recalled his schedule. He still had his mental training and the usual meditation to complete.
'Fifth lesson here I come,' Khan shouted in his mind as he crossed his legs on the bed and focused his attention on the insides of his brain.
His brain contained a few azure specks of light, and Khan focused on the largest. His mind went blank as a few simple thoughts filled him and forced the mana to transform.
The small azure sphere split. It divided itself into two dots before repeating the process and creating four identical specks. Then, Khan imagined a series of invisible hands pinching their edges and giving them a different shape.
The spheres slowly stretched to transform into dimmer hexagons. Thin lines grew inside their edges until they reached the opposite sides. Then, more branches grew and tried to give birth to an intricate figure.
The theory behind the mental exercises of the training program for his element was rather simple. Khan had to manipulate the mana inside his brain to shape it in the form of intricate diagrams.
The execution of those exercises was far harder. The training program forced Khan to increase the number of diagrams every time he stepped on the next lessons.
The first lesson only saw one diagram, but the third already wanted two of them. The fifth required four, and the seventh would need six of them.
Everything had to culminate in the eleventh lesson, where Khan had to create ten diagrams. The process also had to happen at the same time. He couldn't handle the different figures separately.
Learning how to manage different diagrams at the same time was a hellish process, but the training program didn't end there. Every even lesson forced Khan to repeat the previous exercise without involving emotions, which was far more difficult than it sounded.
Khan shaped the diagrams as described by the training program and kept them in that state for a few seconds before doing the backward process. He dismantled those figures and returned them to their original form of a single speck of azure light.
'Again,' Khan faintly thought before repeating the exercise.
The training program required Khan to repeat the exercise five times in a row without mistakes to claim complete mastery. He could proceed on the next lesson only after meeting those standards, and he planned to succeed that night.
Khan started to reshape the mana again, and his second execution succeeded. The third also went well, but his speed diminished when he approached the fourth.
His mind began to feel tired and sloppy, but Khan pressed on. He didn't want to find justifications that night. The pain that filled his body couldn't reach him in that state. He had to succeed because he was dying to reach the Wave spell.
Khan completed the fourth execution before moving to the fifth. He felt on the verge of falling asleep, but his control didn't waver. Growing each line on the diagrams took far more time, but that wasn't a good reason to stop.
It took an entire hour to complete the fifth execution, but Khan didn't lose control for even an instant. He built the diagrams before dismantling them one last time and opening his eyes. His back inevitably landed on his bed when the process was over, and an intense sense of weakness filled his body and mind.
However, excitement raged in his mind. He could finally move to the sixth lesson. He had reached the halfway point before the Wave spell.
'It's already one am,' Khan thought when he glanced at his phone. 'Doing one hour of meditation will only make me more tired tomorrow morning. I should let my body recover tonight.'
The fifth lesson of the chaos element's training had taken far longer than Khan had predicted, so he set the alarm and closed his eyes. He didn't even glance at the empty top bunk on the other side of the room. He knew his roommate wouldn't come home that night.
The nightmare arrived as usual. Khan went back in time and relived the Second Impact. His mental training had allowed him to develop a unique coldness toward those images, but the long scene annoyed him anyway.
Yet, a sudden noise interrupted the nightmare and awakened Khan. His eyes immediately went on his phone, and a confused expression appeared on his face when he noticed that it was still four am.
The noise then resounded again. It spread through the entire flat and made some of the walls tremble. Khan inspected the event from his bed, but he eventually heard a few knocks on his door.
'Did I get into some trouble?' Khan wondered as he stood up and opened the door.
The two soldiers that patrolled the dormitory were standing in front of their flat. The duo wore severe expressions as they waved their phones and confirmed Khan's identity.
"Why didn't you answer your doorbell?" One of the soldiers asked.
"I didn't even know this flat had a doorbell," Khan honestly replied.
"Where were you tonight?" The second soldier asked.
"I went to the prisons of the camp to train with Lieutenant Dyester," Khan explained. "Then you saw me sliding on my back when I returned to the dormitory."
"We indeed saw you," The first soldier continued. "Only mana can create that acceleration. Do you know that it's forbidden to deploy mana outside of training rooms or without supervision?"
"I'm sorry, sir," Khan scratched his head. "I must correct you. The regulations of the Global Army forbid the use of mana to attack other recruits, but it doesn't say anything about training in the open, especially in isolated spots."
Both soldiers remained speechless, and one of them even browsed through the menus of his phone to find the regulations.
"The technique didn't even have offensive purposes," Khan continued. "It was an enhanced sprint meant to make me reach the dormitory on time. I was only trying to be a good recruit, sir."
Khan didn't share his father's stubbornness. He could continue to pretend even when the soldiers had clearly missed the mark.
The soldier found the regulations and showed them to his companion. Khan was right. He didn't break the rules with his last sprint.
"What can you tell me about this?" The second man asked while activating a few holograms on his phone.
Khan saw the battle against the bullies. He didn't feel surprised that the robots around the camps had recorded it, but he still didn't see anything wrong with it.
"They ambushed me," Khan explained while studying the battle. "It was self-defense."
"The tape is currently under investigation," The first soldier said. "You have been involved in two fights in only three months. I hope you don't mind if we pay more attention to you from now on."
"Not at all, sir," Khan continued with his act, but his eyes remained glued to the holograms. "You are just doing your work. I'm happy to comply to improve the situation in the camp. By the way, can I have this tape?"