Chapter 53: Mana

The next morning the two groups gathered inside the mountain as usual, but they only held meaningless battles since most of the focus was on Khan and the new Ef'i.

The two of them were the only recruits who had yet to face a loss, so they could both aim to win the tournament without counting the victories of their sides. Of course, the matter was far more important for Khan since his group had often lost against the aliens.

Khan and the Ef'i had to fight one last time against different opponents that morning, and they both achieved overwhelming victories. Still, the alien appeared far stronger due to his apparent immunity to direct blows.

"How can he be so tough?" Khan asked Lieutenant Unchai when his group left to attend the lessons.

"I'm not sure," Lieutenant Unchai sighed. "The Ef'i are a warrior race. Some of them can develop a higher muscle density due to a lucky combination of genes. The issue might even be mana-related due to the rules of the tournament."

"What do you mean?" Khan promptly asked.

"It's not forbidden to use spells or techniques before a battle," Lieutenant Unchai explained. "He might be able to reinforce himself with mana before jumping into the arena. It would still take a genius to perform a flawless execution every time, but it's a possibility."

'That might be troublesome,' Khan thought as his group moved toward the building that would hold the lessons. 'I don't have techniques with mana that I can prepare beforehand.'

Khan wanted to win, but he didn't know how possible that feat was. He even felt unclear about the alien's power since they had never fought.

"Just focus on doing your best," Lieutenant Unchai said when he noticed Khan's conflicted expression. "I didn't expect their course to have such a strong recruit either. It seems that Earth will have some problem securing enough faswite in the next years."

"Can a single soldier affect the tournaments so much?" Khan asked as curiosity inevitably seeped into his voice.

"I already told you that the Ef'i are generally stronger than us before the evolution," Lieutenant Unchai explained. "The arrival of a new talent can turn the previous balance upside-down. Also, our soldiers fight here to obtain rewards while the Ef'i only want to defend their natural resources. None of us remains on Onia for too long."

Khan nodded as his understanding of the political environment on Onia grew. The Lieutenant then left the group of recruits since their lessons were about to begin, but none of them seemed in the mood to pay attention.

Most of the boys and girls shot silent glances toward Khan during the lessons. They could sense the anxiety of that situation, and they couldn't help but express their feelings through their gestures.

Even Luke and Bruce decided to ignore Khan to avoid breaking his concentration. Their friend was their most valuable asset on Onia right now.

Only Martha continued to treat Khan normally. She knew how thickheaded he could be. She would actually feel surprised to see him getting anxious.

"They shouldn't put so much pressure on you," Martha whispered during the lessons.

"Let them do it," Khan said while giving voice to a faint laugh. "I'm not fighting for them anyway."

"Let me guess," Martha smirked. "You want the Credits connected to this achievement."

"I only want more training halls," Khan whined. "They are so cool. I can fight so often against so many different opponents. They don't even stink of smoke like Lieutenant Dyester."

"You seem to like them very much," Martha laughed, but she promptly covered her mouth for fear of alerting the class.

"A simple like can't express my feeling," Khan announced in a dramatic voice while taking Martha's hands between his palms. "This is the purest form of love. Only food stands above it."

Khan almost didn't hold back his voice during his last announcement. Most of the other students were paying attention to him due to his role in the tournament, so everyone could pick up the word "love" spoken while he held Martha's hand.

Even the professor noticed that scene, but he decided to ignore it due to the importance of Khan's role in the tournament. He limited himself to clear his throat to suppress the giggles that had begun to resound inside the hall.

"I suspect that you do this on purpose at times," Martha snorted while retracting her hand, "But then I remember that you are an idiot."

"I really do love the training halls," Khan whispered while laying his torso on the desk and waiting for the end of the lessons.

Lieutenant Unchai didn't allow Khan to go to the training hall that afternoon. The soldier wouldn't risk his best shot at getting faswite to suffer injuries or arrive at the battle tired.

Khan had to follow his class back to the mountain after the lessons, and he limited himself to meditate while the rest of the battles unfolded.

The awaited moment eventually arrived. Lieutenant Unchai kicked Khan's crossed leg and awakened him from his meditation. Khan wanted to complain, but the sight of the tall Ef'i inside the arena reminded him of his purpose there.

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"[Me is Khan]!" Khan shouted in a bad accent while standing and jumping into the arena.

He had used part of his free time on Onia to improve his Ef'i's language, but he had only managed to commit a few words to memory. Still, he could now complete a few short phrases.

"[Your name has no meaning]," The Ef'i grunted while patting his chest. "[I won't waste time memorizing opponents who can't make me flinch]."

"Slow down a bit," Khan exclaimed while trying to mimic the meaning of his words with his hands. "Slow. Ehm, [egg]! That's the word for slow, right?"

Khan turned to look at Lieutenant Unchai, but the latter shook his head and shattered his hopes.

"He won't bother to learn your name until you beat him," Lieutenant Unchai translated while pointing toward the alien.

Khan scratched his head before turning toward his opponent. The Ef'i didn't move at all. He didn't even bother to enter a defensive stance.

Teco and Lieutenant Unchai exchanged a glance before raising their arms and announcing the beginning of the fight.

Khan immediately shot forward and delivered an impressive direct kick aimed for the center of the alien's chest. That wasn't one of his strongest attacks, but it still hit the Ef'i with a great amount of power.

The Ef'i didn't move at all. Khan felt as if his foot had hit an immovable wall. His battle experience even revealed something tragic to his mind. He could feel that no attack in his arsenal could achieve better effects against that opponent.

'There must be a trick,' Khan thought while rotating on himself and going airborne to deliver a descending kick toward the alien's head.

The Ef'i didn't even try to dodge the attack. He endured the kick and continued to smile while he grabbed Khan's leg and threw him on the other side of the arena.

Khan slammed on the rocky wall before falling on the terrain. The clash didn't hurt too much, but he would eventually lose if he let the situation continue like that.

'It shouldn't be a matter of muscle density,' Khan thought as he stood up and returned inside the arena. 'His physical strength isn't great. Only his defense is off the charts, and the mana might explain that feature.'

A conclusion quickly reached Khan's mind. Nothing in his arsenal would work against a defensive technique fueled by mana. He would have to execute something similar to gain a chance to win.

'How long does it even take me now to perform a complete technique?' Khan wondered as his body crouched forward. 'Can I even succeed on the first try?'

Khan shot forward while taking a handful of terrain with him. The Ef'i didn't notice that quick gesture, so he continued to smile as he waited for his opponent to reveal an opening.

Khan performed a short jump followed by a front flip that made the Ef'i think about a descending kick. The alien was ready to receive the attack, but terrain suddenly covered his vision and blinded his four eyes.

The alien began to give voice to angry guttural noises, and the same went for the audience outside the arena. The Ef'i didn't like that behavior, but Khan didn't have time to waste in that situation.

Khan took a step back as soon as his feet touched the ground. His eyes closed as his body crouched forward, and his attention went on the mana flowing through his flesh.

The Ef'i quickly cleared his eyes from the terrain and noticed what his opponent was up to. An angry noise came out of his mouth as he jumped toward Khan while stretching his claws and cracking his tail forward.

The tail was the Ef'i's fastest limb. It reached Khan in an instant and began to pierce his right shoulder. The alien's claws arrived right after, but a loud noise spread through the arena before they could stab Khan's skin.

The Ef'i figure suddenly disappeared as tremors started to spread through the walls around the arena. It seemed that an earthquake was making the entire mountain shake, but those events had a far shorter range.

Khan had changed his stance. Only Lieutenant Unchai and Teco had been able to follow his movements, but the other recruits didn't understand what had happened. They didn't see when Khan had straightened his left leg forward and performed a direct kick.

Green trails fell from Khan's shoe. The recruits on both sides widened their eyes when they saw that feature, and their gazes inevitably followed the trajectory of his kick.

A second wave of surprise filled their minds when they saw that a large hole had appeared on the rocky walls of the arena. A few green spots had even tainted those dark-red shades.

****

Author's notes: The fever has gone down. I hit 38 this morning, but it has never gone above 37 for the rest of the day. I hope you understand that I still don't want to risk returning to the normal schedule until I'm fully healed. Give me a day or two before going back to the proper number of chapters.

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