Chapter 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.

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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."

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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]."

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"[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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