The atmosphere in the camp was quite hectic. Khan saw the members of his class enjoying their lunch outside the fence as cheerful laughs resounded among them. Paul, a few soldiers, the Lieutenant, and some professors were also having happy conversations on the streets among the buildings.
It was clear that the overall mood had improved after the formal celebration. The recruits had grown closer, and the superiors had relaxed after the relationship between the two species had improved. Rewards were bound to arrive on Nitis, and everyone felt happy about that.
Khan made Snow land near his class. He knew that he had ignored them for too long, and the ability to create a decent social network in every environment was one of the skills required by the ambassadors.
George and the other recruits tried to establish a relationship with Khan, but he had been too busy with his training and Liiza. His behavior had probably even offended them, so it was up to him to mend that situation.
"The hero of the hunt is here!" George laughed when he saw Khan jumping off the Aduns, petting it a few times, and turning to walk toward the group.
"Is your sword okay?" Khan asked while reaching the group enjoying their picnic.
The recruits couldn't help but notice that Khan didn't change at all from the previous night. His white robe even had stains due to his intimate time with Liiza and the events with Zalpa.
Khan didn't bother changing. He had a uniform in his backpack, but it would have been hard to justify him wearing clean clothes after spending an entire night outside. Moreover, the robe covered his body better, which was quite important due to the marks that Liiza had left on his neck.
"It still cuts," George shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted to get a new one anyway. This alloy is struggling to keep up with my improvements."
"What do you even do every night outside?" Sonia asked before Khan could lead the conversation toward other topics. "Is handling Aduns really so annoying?"
The recent step forward in the relationship between the two species had opened the Aduns to the humans. The recruits could finally get their flying mounts and abandon the Ugu, but doubts inevitably appeared when they saw how Khan behaved.
"They are quite independent actually," Khan explained.
"Why do you spend so much outside then?" Sonia continued.
Only Sonia seemed to have enough guts to question Khan so openly, and the other recruits pretended not to notice her behavior.
It was clear that the matter with Glenn had affected her a lot. Khan couldn't see the girl's usual smile anymore. Sonia didn't even play with her knife but kept her sightly angry gaze fixed on him.
"The bed is too comfortable," Khan lied while diverting his gaze. "I prefer to stay in the open. I'm not trapped there."
The faint anger shooting out of Sonia's eyes disappeared in front of that answer. The other recruits even showed surprising expressions. Only George wore a sad smile as Istrone's memories reappeared in his vision.
The recruits didn't expect Khan to hint at traumas connected to Istrone. That sudden burst of fake honesty left them speechless and even made them justify part of Khan's eccentric behavior.
"The Global Army has good specialists for that," Natalie suddenly commented. "There is no shame in seeing them."
"That's something you can say to others," George snorted while lowering his gaze. "You didn't see Istrone. The hunt was child's play compared to what we've experienced there, but Khan has never faltered. We would all be dead if it weren't for him."
"The Kred really hated us," Khan vaguely exclaimed as his eyes remained fixed in the distance.
Khan was pretending in that situation, but Istrone's scenes still reappeared in his mind. The blood, the corpses, the angry cries of the alien family, everything returned and reminded him of what he had done. However, his mind didn't waver now.
Khan had finally started to accept the nature of his actions. He had stopped applying human values to those scenes. He had even stopped considering them in terms of good and evil.
He wouldn't have experienced the faint happiness that tried to sort out his shattered life without his merciless actions on Istrone. Khan felt as if he had paid the price to seize what he currently had.
Discovering the map and the matters about his father had left Khan broken, but he had started to believe that he would get something out of it sooner or later. He didn't know the nature of his reward yet, but even his current acceptance felt like a good starting point.
'My advantages come from traumas and my happiness from the blood on my hands,' Khan sighed in his mind. 'I wonder if I can escape this system once I become stronger.'
"Our control over Istorne has intensified after the rebellion," Harris revealed while Khan and George remained silent. "It won't take much before the incident becomes history. I believe our relationship with the Kred will flourish again at some point."
George and Khan revealed faint smiles at that announcement, but they both suppressed the vague sadness that tried to fill their expressions. They had learnt about how cursed Istrone could be for the Kred. Those aliens couldn't let go of their grudge.
"Don't be scared when the time comes for you to get your Aduns," Khan announced while changing the topic of the conversation. "The eagles will put you through a test, but they won't attack you. Your focus must be on not falling."
The recruits couldn't help but show smiles. Khan had just helped them out of pure goodwill. Their idea of him inevitably improved and made them frown when they saw him turning toward the camp.
"Will you attend the lessons?" George asked.
"We are here to learn," Khan gave voice to a faint laugh, and his eyebrows arched when he saw George standing up.
"Breaks don't suit me," George vaguely explained.
His gesture inspired other recruits to stand up and gather around the two boys. They couldn't slack when those who had suffered far more than them were willing to go past their pain and attend to their duties.
"Let's go then," Khan happily ordered. "We don't want to be late."
Paul's surprised expression welcomed the small group back into the camp. The soldier saw Khan walking in the lead of a bunch of recruits and leading them toward the building that featured the lessons.
Lieutenant Kintea couldn't help but take note of that event. Captain Erbair had given a long and justified break, but it seemed that Khan's influence had made the recruits prioritize their instruction over their free time.
The situation wasn't as simple as it looked, but Lieutenant Kintea didn't care about the details. He saw Khan inspiring recruits to resume their lessons, and that was enough to write a positive report about his character.
The rest of the afternoon went by peacefully. The recruits who had decided to attend the lessons even questioned Khan about the Aduns during the short breaks.
Khan didn't hold anything back. He described the test and the things that he had learnt after flying with Snow for two weeks. The recruits initially struggled to believe in the mental connection with the eagle, but Khan proved his point by showing how Snow dived toward the camp as soon as he left the building.
"It won't understand proper words," Khan explained as Snow lowered its head and allowed him to pet its neck properly, "But it will get your feelings. Well, you'll understand what I mean soon enough."
The recruits behind him showed grateful expressions and evident respect after spending that afternoon with him. They had seen how attentive he was during the lessons. They had even learnt a lot about the Aduns thanks to him.
Khan was succeeding in creating the image of a perfect soldier in their minds. He was reliable in battle, driven during the training and lessons, and didn't hold back from helping his peers. Everyone started to think that climbing the ranks was only a matter of time for him.
"Is it really impossible to make you come with us tonight?" George asked as Khan climbed on his Aduns. "We are even working on contacting the Niqols to get our hands on the booze. Having you would make everything easier."
"I like to train in the mountains," Khan lied. "You'll understand what I say after you see them."
George shook his head, but the other recruits had only smiles for Khan. The girls even shot strange glances at him. They couldn't help but like the valiant aura that had fallen on him after he sat on his mount. Their only complaint was Khan's clear ignorance toward his dirty clothes, but they could ignore that after seeing the muscles lying under them.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Khan announced, and Snow began to flap its wings, but a siren suddenly resounded from every building in the camp.
Snow initially panicked, but Khan promptly sent calm emotions through the mental connection and made it able to ignore the loud noise. Still, a frown appeared on his face, and his eyes didn't hesitate to focus on the figure hurrying toward the group.
"I hope you are all ready to depart," Paul announced after reaching the group. "We have just received a distress signal from the higher-ups of the Niqols. They have openly requested the help of all the human troops on the planet."
"What is happening?" Khan quickly asked while continuing to pet Snow.
"It seems that monsters have started to appear everywhere on the planet," Paul explained as evident worry filled his face. "The Niqols have already confirmed the presence of ten dangerous creatures in the area, and their number continues to increase."
Paul's phone rang at that point, and the soldier's eyes widened when he read the message on the screen. His voice became grave as he announced the contents of the text. "They are eleven now."
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Author's notes: I wanted to focus a bit more on Khan's mindset for these chapters. It didn't feel right to make everything move forward without explaining how his mind was evolving after the recent discoveries. Hope you enjoyed it.
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