Khan's eyes lit up as Captain Erbair handed him the large casket. The container felt heavy, and it was far bigger than he expected. After all, he had requested a single knife, but the chest was sixty centimeters long.
"You are accumulating merits at an incredible pace," Captain Erbair announced while Khan was busy inspecting the clean box made of black metal. "Be honest. Do you like the Niqols?"
The sudden question made Khan frown as he raised his eyes toward the tall Captain. He couldn't understand the meaning behind her words, but she quickly explained herself better.
"I meant as a species," Captain Erbair explained. "I've studied how the relationships with these types of alien species usually evolve. I don't know if it will happen soon enough for you to be a candidate, but the Global Army might plan a political marriage at some point. I just wanted to know if I should keep your name in mind in case things move faster than expected."
Khan's frown relaxed, but his surprise intensified. He instinctively thought about Liiza, but he still felt too young to give an honest answer about a possible marriage. He didn't even like the idea of using the event for political reasons, but he kept that idea for himself.
"Would I get to choose my wife?" Khan eventually asked to learn more about the matter.
"Probably not," Captain Erbair revealed. "I can even assure you that Miss Liiza would be out of the question with your background. The life as the first interspecies couple is also quite annoying due to all the studies related to an eventual offspring."
Khan had only heard about the existence of interspecies couples. He had yet to study anything specific, but he knew that humans had tried to mix their genes with aliens with compatible sexual organs. Still, everything related to those topics seemed classified or too advanced since the network didn't offer information about them.
"How bad is it if I say no?" Khan honestly asked as his expression became complicated.
Everything on Nitis was working in his favor. Khan was gaining merits with the Global Army, his girlfriend was amazing, and the Niqols were learning to know him.
Khan didn't want to ruin his perfect record by declaring his unwillingness to sacrifice for the greater good of the Global Army. However, he didn't want to lie about such important matters either since they might come to haunt him in the future.
"This conversation isn't official," Captain Erbair explained. "I'm just trying to know my team better. The Global Army sent me here because of my knowledge of alien species and the history of our past interactions with them. Learning how I can use you it's my job."
Khan didn't feel offended by the works picked by Captain Erbair. She had to treat her underlings as pawns to use them properly. Emotions were useless and dangerous when handling important matters, and she couldn't allow herself to commit mistakes. It would take years to mend the relationship between the two species otherwise.
"I don't want my kids to become guinea pigs, ma'am," Khan honestly revealed.
"That's understandable," Captain Erbair nodded. "Don't worry. You are young, but you are already doing great. You'll be fine as long as you don't fool around with Niqols once you get to the academies."
"Am I in then?" Khan asked as his eyes lit up again.
"Of course," Captain Erbair snorted. "Who else would I even send there? I'll use the next two weeks to understand what that damned Yeza wants before coming up with a team. I might contact Paul or you if I'm undecided about a few names."
Khan promptly placed the casket on the ground and performed a military salute, but Captain Erbair limited herself to wave her hand and turn back to her building.
"Make sure to sleep," Captain Erbair ordered while walking back to her place. "We all need it. We might not have time for it soon."
Khan watched Captain Erbair disappearing inside her building before glancing at the casket on the ground. He picked it up while messy thoughts filled his mind. It was clear that everyone expected chaos to unfold soon, but he felt too little to affect a planetary crisis. His power barely allowed him to protect what he cared about.
The scenes of Liiza flying toward the sharp root after the clash with the bull appeared in his vision. She could have gotten badly hurt in that battle, and Khan wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop that.
His power wasn't enough to stop a single monster. Khan couldn't even imagine what would happen once the sunlight started to shine on Nitis. He didn't even know if he could be with Liiza while the crisis unfolded.
'I need to get stronger,' Khan decided in his mind as his grasp on the metal casket tightened.
Khan started to review his past battles on Nitis as he walked inside the building behind him and quickly found his room. His hands went on the azure square on the wall after dropping the casket on the bed. He quickly sealed the flat as he prepared to approach his second martial art.
His memories confirmed that he had never failed to execute techniques since he had landed on Nitis. The trend had started on Earth during his last period with Lieutenant Dyester, and it had yet to end.
Khan didn't feel different about his proficiency level, but he had no way to test it. He didn't even know how to learn about it without training areas. Still, his confidence in the Lightning-demon style felt almost natural now.
A surprising scene unfolded in Khan's eyes once he lifted the casket's lid. He clearly recalled having asked for only one knife, but the box had three of them accompanied by matching sheaths.
Each sheath had a label that described the knife's quality. Khan didn't hesitate to unlock his phone to check what the Divine Reaper's training program said about them.
'Reinforced blunt null-grade weapon,' Khan read on the label of the first knife before checking what the training program said.
The program confirmed that the first knife was perfect as a training tool. It could be his companion while he learnt the different techniques for the Divine Reaper, and it could even work as a weapon once he deployed mana.
Most importantly, the weapon wouldn't break if he failed to execute a technique correctly. That was the biggest issue mentioned in the training program, but the Global Army had him covered.
'Reinforced null-grade weapon,' Khan read on the second knife.
It seemed that the Global Army wanted him to differ between training and actual fights. Khan even checked the second knife after opening the leather sheath that held its handle still.
He did the same with the first and compared the two weapons. Their edges were clearly different. The second knife cut his skin as soon as he placed his thumb on its sharp edge, while the first seemed unable to do the same no matter how much strength he put in the grip.
Both knives had black handles and dark-grey blades. They were almost identical and a bit less than twenty centimeters long. They were pointy and triangular, clearly hinting that they could cut with both sides. Also, a single pale-azure line ran at their center and connected their bases to their tips.
Khan placed both knives back into the casket at that point. He had the blunt and the sharp reinforced blades already. He couldn't imagine what the last weapon could be, and his eyes ended up widening in surprise when he sensed a faint trace of mana coming out of the third sheath.
'Reinforced first-grade weapon,' Khan read after carefully picking the third knife and looking at its label.
His hands almost moved on their own as he unlocked the piece of leather keeping the black handle still and drew the weapon. A dark blade unfolded in eyes, but the same pale-azure line connected its sharp tip to its base.
The third knife was similar to the others. It was pointy, triangular, and rather long, with two sharp edges and a comfortable handle covered in resilient fabric. Still, a faint aura surrounded the weapon, and Khan almost felt in danger while holding it.
Khan's eyes quickly moved across the room. He wanted to find something to cut, but he didn't find anything that could tell him how sharp the knife actually was. Yet, the simple bed with its metal legs eventually filled his vision and attracted his hands.
Khan placed one of the sharp edges of the knife to the bed's metal legs and applied a bit of pressure. The weapon immediately pierced the material and started cutting it without meeting any hindrance. He didn't even notice that the blade cut it from side to side until it was too late.
The bed fell to its side, but Khan didn't move. The dark blade had captured the entirety of his attention. He felt almost drawn by the first-grade weapon, even if he didn't know what that classification meant. Still, the training program put it as the ideal type of knife to use since it was a magic item.
'I bet I'd be so rich if I sold it,' Khan thought before storing the knife, using the casket to replace its severed leg, and tinkering with his phone to find more explanations.
It turned out that the network didn't say anything about magic items, but Khan discovered that he could find additional explanations on the Divine Reaper's training program. Each weapon listed there had further descriptions and hidden lessons.
The grade referred to the enhancements that the weapons received. The lessons of the training program didn't focus on the actual description of the magic items. Khan had to understand the information among explanations meant for other aspects of the knives, but the task turned out to be rather easy.
The woman in the training program described how weapons would react to the martial art depending on their grade, so Khan could easily understand their qualities and connected them to a level.
The null-grade only had basic enhancements that relied on mana to make a material surpass its innate features. The first-grade went beyond that and added abilities that could only be described as magical.
The third knife's sharpness was unrealistic. It existed beyond the simple edge. Khan barely had to put any strength to cut the bed's metal leg.
'Magic items sure are strange,' Khan thought after reading all the descriptions. 'Wonderful, but strange.'
The Global Army had yet to teach about magic items. Those were topics for the second year and specialized courses since they involved different subjects connected to mana. Khan had the chance to learn something about it sooner than others, but he felt quite sure that most of the wealthy recruits already knew a lot about them.
The excitement waned once he finished reviewing those lessons. Khan had yet to recover from the long night spent hunting. His body still felt exhausted, but it didn't prevent him from completing a short meditation.
Various thoughts returned in his mind after he came out of the meditative state. Khan had to warn Liiza about the imminent crisis and discuss how the Niqols wanted to handle it. He didn't know if he could help her entire species, but he wanted to make sure that they faced the struggle together.
****
Author's notes: I'm sorry. It took far longer than I expected.
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