The party ended late, at less than two hours from the beginning of Professor Supyan's lesson. The recruits hurried back to their habitation once the event ended, but Khan remained a bit longer in the empty spot even after Liiza left.
Khan had already decided that sleeping was pointless since the first lesson would happen soon. He preferred to spend an hour meditating and covering the time needed by his deal with Liiza that night. Very few things could match sex, and resting with his girlfriend in his arms was one of them. He only had to go through the day to reach that point.
The beginning of his second week in [The Pure Trees] looked messy. Khan left his spot only to find Niqols sleeping around the cauldrons and in many isolated areas nearby. The party had created new couples, had broken old ones, had caused laughs and cries, and had allowed the aliens to accept the death of their companions.
The scene was incredibly silent. It felt almost unreal that those sleeping aliens could cause the previous night's mess, and Khan only smiled at that thought.
His second month on Nitis had basically just begun. Less than five months separated Khan from the end of his first year inside the Global Army, and he couldn't even begin to describe how much his life had changed in that short period.
Khan had gone from being a two-faced kid to his current vaguely mature appearance. His faces had almost fused in that period, but his number of masks had increased. The different political and social necessities had forced him to hone his lying skills and push them into a superior realm.
His secrets had also increased, and that only led to a complicated mental state. His relationship with Liiza made him unable to remain completely loyal to the humans, and the hidden scenes in his nightmares had ruined his initial beliefs. Nitis had forced Khan to shed away most of his previous self and find a character free from his previous values.
The conflicting emotions inside his mind didn't stop him from having a clear vision of his path ahead. Khan wasn't a mass of desperation unaware of his place in the world anymore. He was still an ignorant kid, but he knew what he wanted and how to approach it. He had even discovered many talents in the period that went from his first day on Onia to now.
Moreover, his growth had confirmed something that he had started to accept since his meeting with Zalpa. Khan had developed more in the almost three months spent in foreign planets than on Earth, and the matter didn't only involve his battle prowess. His character had matured in ways that would have been impossible inside Ylaco's training camp.
The idea of staying away from Earth until his character and knowledge grew enough to face Bret without falling for his lies sounded reasonable now. The ideal scenario saw Khan learning about the truth behind his tragedy before meeting his father, but that would most likely require years, and he didn't know if he could remain on alien planets for so long. He wasn't even sure whether his doubts would remain bearable throughout that period.
Khan realized that he couldn't follow all his desires without sacrificing something. His packed schedule had already taught him that. Returning to Earth to face his father would separate him from Liiza, but remaining on Nitis wouldn't give him the chance to learn about core pieces of his past.
Those heavy thoughts vanished when Khan noticed a familiar figure partially hidden behind a tree. A smile appeared on his face as he approached it, and his expression struggled to show only one emotion after he saw the entirety of the scene.
George didn't go back to the underground habitation, but the other recruits didn't mind that too much since he usually attended Professor Supyan's lesson. Khan didn't bother to keep his companions in check since he was busy with Liiza and his heavy mind, so finding George sleeping on the tree felt a bit surprising. Yet, the funniest aspect of that scene was the Niqols resting with her head over his shoulder.
'Her name should be Havaa if I'm not wrong,' Khan thought while inspecting the girl sleeping with George.
Havaa belonged to the first year. She featured the usual Niqols' beauty, and her body didn't fall behind in that field. Her only peculiarity was her hairstyle since she shaved the left side of her head.
The other side had long white hair combed into braids, but it was hard to focus on it when her shaved part featured a white tattoo that stretched behind her ear and until the base of her neck.
Khan's smile only broadened when he inspected the duo's clothes. George's chest was bare, and his robe hung from his waist. Instead, Havaa was still wearing her tracksuit, but it was partially open to create a cleavage.
Khan decided to kick George's foot lightly a few times when he felt the urge to explode into a laugh. It took a while to wake up the boy, but his eyes eventually opened, and his eyebrows quickly furrowed to create a frown.
George began to ask something, but his hoarse voice didn't manage to go too far once he noticed the girl sleeping on his shoulder. His eyes widened, and his frown relaxed at that point. His hangover vanished in an instant as he slowly crawled out of that position, laid Havaa on the tree, and got on his feet to leave the area.
Khan was on the verge of exploding during that scene, and his urge even intensified when George turned to shoot an admonishing glance at him. The recruit wanted to leave the area as soon as possible, but Khan didn't seem willing to move until he had enjoyed himself long enough.
Khan decided to move when George started to beg him through his eyes. The two boys had to cross a large part of the forest before George felt confident enough to stop silencing his breath. The scene made Khan laugh loudly, which triggered the excuses that his friend had prepared during the walk.
"I didn't do anything!" George explained. "I wasn't feeling well, so I sat there to recover a bit. Havaa just threw herself at me when she found me."
"Havaa," Khan sneered. "You remember her name."
"That's my job as an envoy of the human species," George stated. "Everything I do is for the greater good of the Global Ar-."
George had to interrupt his line since something escaped from his stomach and climbed his throat to appear in his mouth. Khan laughed when he saw the boy hurrying behind the nearest tree and vomiting what he had yet to digest.
"Didn't you like Natalie?" Khan asked when George left the tree and started to walk with him again.
"I didn't do anything with Havaa," George repeated. "We might have kissed a few times, but what's a kiss for the Niqols? I bet it has the same value as a handshake. Besides, we were both fairly… We had both enjoyed the party, so we decided to sleep."
"You'd be surprised by how much these small gestures mean for the Niqols," Khan laughed. "The point isn't in the kiss, but in the fact that she has decided to kiss you."
George's eyes widened, and a tinge of worry even appeared inside them. Khan was right, but he couldn't give up so easily. He would have to admit that he had flirted with Havaa through the whole party otherwise.
"How come you know so much about the Niqols now?" George asked. "Also, you can't really speak. We all saw you spending the entire night with Miss Liiza. I decided to get drunk rather than listen to Kelly's complaints."
"That girl should try to face what we have gone through," Khan sighed. "I'm so close to snapping at her."
"You lose if you do," George commented.
"I know," Khan replied. "The world is proving me right anyway. I only hope she cares more about the mission than her petty pride."
The comment made the two boys fall silent for a while. They continued to walk through the forest, but the topic about Liiza remained inside George's mind. After all, he was the only one among the recruits who knew a bit more about the matter.
"So," George eventually said when his curiosity and worry had the better over him, "Did you enjoy the party with her?"
"George, I'm not dumb," Khan lied. "I won't do anything stupid. Azni and the others didn't want Miss Liiza to be alone after everything that has happened, and she can't be too rude toward a human due to her role."
"You sure looked committed," George teased before retches surged through his throat and forced him to hide behind a tree again.
The boys planned to meditate once they reached the spot that would hold Professor Supyan's lesson, but a strange scene unfolded in their visions after they crossed the membrane.
The path taken by Khan and George led them directly into the central empty area of the academy. It was easier to reach their destination from there since they wouldn't have to keep track of their position inside the forest.
Ilman was sitting on his knees right at the center of the empty square. His stance seemed to be part of a martial art, and the scene inevitably worried the two boys. The Niqols opened his eyes when he heard them, and his stern voice soon resounded in the area.
"I was waiting for you, Khan," Ilman exclaimed.
"Is something the matter?" Khan asked in a plain voice.
"I saw you and Liiza yesterday," Ilman continued.
"Azni told me that you would have come," Khan quickly declared as wild thoughts ran through his mind. "I must have missed you among the crowd."
Khan pretended not to understand the meaning carried by Ilman's words, and the act turned out to be relatively easy. He didn't do much with Liiza last night. The two had even been on their respective trees throughout the whole party.
'Is he so jealous?' Khan wondered while glancing at George.
The boy had gone full battle mode when he sensed that faint threat. George completely forgot about his hangover and prepared himself to fight. His hand even instinctively went looking for his sword at his side, but it eventually stopped when he recalled that he was unarmed.
"George, we are inside the academy ground," Khan scolded, and the recruit quickly did his best to relax his tense posture.
The academy didn't allow fights inside the entire valley, so Khan felt at ease even in that situation. He didn't believe that Ilman would attack him right in the middle of the central square. Also, he didn't do anything that could cause such a reaction.
"You didn't miss me," llman announced while straightening his position and performing a polite bow. "I decided to leave before someone could notice me."
"Why?" Khan asked as his expression remained friendly.
"I couldn't ruin a party that my peers needed to overcome their grief," Ilman explained. "I wanted to handle this matter privately when we wouldn't have casualties."
"What matter?" Khan continued with his questions.
Khan wanted Ilman to be clear about his reasons. He honestly struggled to believe that such intense jealousy could exist in the world, but he was against a dramatic Niqols who had tried to date the same girl for years. That special situation could prove him wrong.
"I want to fight you for the right of making Liiza happy!" Ilman shouted. "I have always believed to be the one fated to make her smile, but life has put a contender on my path! I appreciate your past advice, but love comes before everything! We must decide who is better among us now to make it easier for her!"
The statement left the two speechless. Khan and George even exchanged a glance to make sure that they had heard Ilman correctly.
"I'm not sure I understand," Khan eventually responded.
"She will have to decide between us at some point!" Ilman shouted. "I can't let her go through that struggle. It's better to settle this now when the loss of one of us won't cause her too much pain!"
George frowned, and Khan remained utterly speechless. That interaction confirmed that Ilman was crazy, but it didn't tell him how to get out of that situation.
"There has been a misunderstanding," Khan tried to explain. "Miss Liiza and I are barely friends. I just made sure that she didn't remain alone with her grief after what we have been through last morning."
"My eyes don't lie," Ilman continued while bending his legs and raising his arms to prepare his palms. "You made her enjoy herself. You are a candidate for her happiness, so we must fight!"
"Can't she be happy with more than one person?" Khan questioned. "Isn't that what friends do for each other?"
"You don't know her as I do," Ilman shook his head. "She won't accept more than one person, so I can't let her end up in front of a painful choice!"
"Khan?" George asked as doubts filled his mind.
"We are still inside the academy," Khan reassured George. "Don't worr-."
Khan had to interrupt his line since a shadow darted next to him and forced him to sidestep its attack. Ilman had been incredibly fast, almost as fast as him, and he had delivered a palm strike that had discharged a wave of violent mana in the air.
George went battle-ready again. He stretched his fingers to create a blade with his right hand and tried to run around Khan to reach Ilman, but a kick suddenly landed on his abdomen and made him fly away. The attack didn't hurt too much. It was a thrust rather than an actual blow, and the recruit understood the meaning behind that gesture only after he landed on the ground a few meters from his friend.
Ilman didn't touch George. Khan had been the one to push him away. George could even see his friend glaring at him for an instant before turning toward his opponent.
"Won't they expel you for this?" Khan asked as he sidestepped an incoming palm strike.
The palm released its mana when it passed next to Khan's chest. He could sense his insides tremble at the faint contact with that force. He could immediately understand that a direct hit would cause serious internal injuries.
"Love stands above the academy!" Ilman shouted as he twisted his body and turned his palm toward Khan's chest.
Khan could sense mana accumulating in Ilman's hand, so he jumped backward. The Niqols released his energy at that point, and part of it ended up touching Khan before he managed to retreat.
A faint weight had appeared at the base of Khan's chest after he landed on the ground. Blood had even accumulated on the corners of his mouth. Ilman's palm didn't even touch him, but the mana released in the attack had been enough to hurt him.