Khan didn't know how to apply the Niqols' approach to the Wave spell. He knew the theory behind Liiza's ice, but each element required a different method or process to express its power.
The Niqols couldn't help Khan there since none of them had the same element, so he could only try to fuse the human training program to the Niqols' approach to mana. He knew that changing the nature of that energy required strong emotions. Still, he was also aware that the Wave spell needed specific images, something deeply connected to an idea of destruction.
Needless to say, Khan's greatest drive had always been his desperation, and his experiences on different planets had only strengthened it. His nightmares, Istrone, everything that had happened on Nitis, and his current predicament had turned that feeling into the most powerful fuel that his mind was able to produce.
Hence, Khan performed everything that his training program had taught him. He imagined all the death and destruction seen throughout his life while adding his desperation to that mixture, and the outcome turned out to be quite explosive.
Something broke inside Khan. He found it hard to describe that sensation. Pain and tiredness had filled his mind until he felt relief as if he had just taken off an uncomfortable shirt. Everything became slightly lighter for no apparent reason.
The mana accumulated on his palm suddenly turned red-purple before expanding into a wave of energy that released a strange noise when it spread throughout the air. It almost sounded like a desperate cry, but Khan didn't know how reliable his ears were in that situation.
The wave of mana quickly reached the Stal, but Khan barely had the time to inspect the scene since everything fell apart in no time. He couldn't move or even turn his head, but the alien had lifted him in front of its head, so he could see what his attack did to its flesh.
The alien's rough brown skin disappeared as soon as it touched the red-purple mana. Most of it simply vanished and left behind a few chunks of flesh as it revealed the Stal's insides.
Khan could glance at the Stal's skeleton, muscles, and organs for less than a second before they also started to vanish. Some of them lasted longer than others, but they eventually turned into a few gory chunks that began to fall with him.
The rifle endured the attack even longer, and the same went for the truck. The mana pushed the weapon away as it cracked its tough fabric before turning most of it into dust. The vehicle's dark metal seemed able to survive the spell, but it soon started to break as the mana continued to expand.
Khan fell on his feet, but he couldn't preserve his balance, so his back quickly ended up on the ground and left him staring at the sky. The wave of mana had vanished by then, and the area had also fallen silent. He couldn't hear the bullets anymore, but a grunt eventually reached his ears.
Khan slowly turned his head in the direction of the grunt. The thick legs of a series of Stal appeared in his vision and described the gory spectacle he had created. The spell had reached every alien in the group, but not in their entirety, allowing some body parts to survive the event.
The limbs laid among puddles of blood, tiny parts of the Stal, maimed corpses, and broken rifles. Still, Khan soon noticed a wounded figure past them. He recognized the second-level warrior that supported itself on one of the trucks.
The Stal had three arms crossed in front of its chest and head while the other clung onto the truck's roof. Part of the skin on its limbs and waist had vanished, transforming into large bloody spots that revealed thick layers of muscles.
The alien had managed to escape the spell's range in time to avoid severe injuries, and it now inspected Khan with wide eyes. The Stal slowly straightened its position and began to study the area. Its gaze didn't remain for long on its companions' body parts, but the sight of the broken vehicle seemed to stun it deeply.
Indecision seemed to appear on the Stal's face. It didn't immediately jump inside the truck to escape. Instead, it continued to gaze at the broken truck before fixing its eyes on Khan.
Khan felt that something was off. He recognized the hint of determination that had appeared on the alien's face, so he began to muster his mana again. A red-purple glow started to spread from his palm as desperation filled his mind. He could sense that the spell was about to work, but the violent cough from before abruptly took control of his lungs and broke his concentration.
The Stal darted forward when it saw the red-purple halo dispersing. It reached Khan in no time, and its feet landed at his sides as it drew its four arms forward. The alien wanted to kill him in a single blow, but a bullet suddenly pierced its right head and made it lose its balance.
The alien fell to its left, but it placed a knee and two palms to the ground as it forced itself to maintain its balance. The Stal didn't give up on its plan to kill Khan and did its best to prepare for a deadly attack while controlling its huge body with only one brain. Yet, two bullets landed on its side before its arms could descend.
The Stal growled, but dark blood filled its mouth until life abandoned its body. The alien fell to its side and lay on the ground right next to Khan.
A series of hurried steps approached Khan. He had to tilt his head while coughs continued to come out of his mouth, and the scene that unfolded in his eyes made the struggle worth it.
Delia, Gloria, and two other soldiers approached his position while wearing various expressions. Delia smiled happily while her three companions inspected the area with a mixture of astonishment, disgust, and even awe.
Their presence in that area confirmed that the enemy trench wasn't a threat anymore. Only four soldiers had survived the arrival of the tank, but Khan didn't have enough strength to feel sad or happy about it. His mood was far from ideal after his first and attempted second execution of the wave spell, so his exhaustion took the better of him and made his vision go dark.
The nightmare didn't care about Khan's condition. He was sleeping, so it had to take control of his dreams. However, he didn't mind it too much that time since it confirmed that he was still alive.
Waves of pain with unknown origin invaded his nightmare from time to time, but Khan couldn't focus on them. He was partially aware of what would follow the battle, but he couldn't think too deeply about the matter since the Second Impact often claimed the entirety of his attention.
When the nightmare ended and Khan opened his eyes, he found himself in a foreign and yet familiar environment. He didn't recognize the dark ceiling and the objects around him, but they gave off the same vibe as the moving camp.
Khan tried to turn to inspect his surroundings, but he quickly discovered that long metal handcuffs were binding his right arm to his simple bed. A small metallic structure also covered his hand and forced his fingers and palm to remain straight.
Khan quickly used his free arm to remove the sheets that covered his body. He was wearing a pair of clean trousers, but his torso was in the open and revealed a series of bandages that didn't come from a military uniform.
A tube with a transparent liquid came out from under the handcuffs, and a few consoles stood at the bed's side. Khan could see his knife on a table on the other side of the room, but his phone, Lieutenant Pouille's device, and the ring stolen from the Stal were nowhere to be seen.
Khan understood that he was safe and that the handcuffs probably didn't have any negative purpose, but he didn't like to be bound to a bed. He moved his back a bit and flexed his left arm to check their condition, but everything felt fine. He experienced a slight discomfort in the spots where the bullets had hit him, but that alone couldn't force him to lie down.
"Hello?" Khan called, but no one answered. He couldn't sense any presence past the walls of the large room nor hear steps.
The room featured two more beds with the same consoles but no nurses or doctors. Khan couldn't even see meds or other items in the room, and he had no idea how to call someone without a phone.
Khan wanted to stand, and he even felt the urge to pee, so he started inspecting the handcuffs. They had a simple circular button on the other side, and they let his arm free when he pressed it.
Khan inspected his right hand and the simple metallic structure over it for a few seconds before placing his bare feet on the cold floor and slowly standing up. He felt slightly dizzy, but he had kept his left hand on the bed during the process, so he didn't lose his balance.
A sense of tiredness pervaded Khan's mind, but he felt relatively okay. He didn't know for how long he had slept, but that couldn't be long since his body still needed to recover. Yet, he didn't feel hungry or thirsty, and the tube with transparent liquid seemed to be the reason behind that.
'I guess I shouldn't take it away for now,' Khan thought after seeing that the tube pierced his skin to send that liquid inside his body.
Luckily for Khan, the tube had a sack hanging from a simple stick on the other end. The item even had four small wheels that allowed him to carry it around easily.
Khan took the stick with his left and carried it with him. He retrieved his knife, but he noticed that a mark had appeared on one of its surfaces. Even the handle appeared damaged, and he couldn't see his sheath anywhere.
Khan disregarded eventual doubts and approached one of the two doors in the room. His short time inside the moving camp had taught him how those structures worked, so he recognized the bathroom in no time.
A surprising sight waited for Khan in the bathroom. A mirror right above a sink allowed him to see that someone had cut his hair short. He didn't have his half-burned and messy haircut anymore.
A few red spots also occupied the right side of his face, where the Stal had punched him. Khan didn't feel any pain or discomfort from there, and nothing seemed broken either.
'They have patched me up properly,' Khan thought as a helpless sigh escaped his mouth.
The tiredness and the vague discomfort couldn't hide the realization that something had changed inside Khan. He felt different, even if he couldn't explain how. Also, the sadness caused by his separation from Liiza and his other tragic experiences had intensified.
His mood was far from ideal, but he didn't mind that too much. Khan guessed that it was only normal to feel like that after his last battle.
The only consolations were his relatively good condition and his success with the Wave spell. Khan wasn't sure how to call his ability since it had been different from what he had seen in the training program, but it was easy to explain that event with his new approach to the chaos element.
The entrance slid open when Khan pressed a button at its side. A corridor expanded in his view, and a young soldier slept on a chair placed at its end. Khan didn't need to check the man's shoulders to know that he was only close to becoming a first-level warrior.
The soldier didn't wake up even when Khan got close to him, so he cleared his throat loudly. The man snapped awake and jumped to his feet to perform a military salute, but his stance relaxed when he noticed Khan.
"You shouldn't be out of your bed!" The man exclaimed.
"Can I remove this thing?" Khan asked while pointing at the tube attached to his arm.
"Wait here!" The soldier stated. "I'll call the doctor."
The soldier darted toward a door next to the chair, and Khan slowly followed him. A relatively large area appeared in his view, and many interactive desks filled it. That alone showed him that the quality of that structure surpassed his previous moving camp.
Khan entered the room and inspected it for a while before approaching the door crossed by the soldier. Different voices began to reach his ears, but he had to stop paying attention to them to focus on the middle-aged woman that appeared in front of him with the young soldier at her side.
"Why did you get up without my consent?" The woman asked in a chilling tone.
"I had to pee," Khan admitted while raising his right arm. "I made sure not to touch this."
Khan couldn't see the woman's shoulders due to the white medical coat that she wore over her military uniform, but she felt slightly stronger than Lieutenant Pouille. She had to be a second-level warrior.
Still, her appearance felt slightly off. She had long gray hair, even if her stern face didn't show any wrinkle. She was even quite slim, but her figure radiated a power that Khan couldn't ignore.
The woman inspected Khan sternly, but her expression relaxed when she saw that he didn't remove the tube. She approached him and placed a hand on his chest that he forced himself not to avoid before taking out the item from his arm.
"Your body is in a good state after only a bit more than a day of rest," The woman exclaimed after pointing at the stick and letting the soldier handle it. "They told me that you were tough. They weren't wrong."
"Thank you, ma'am," Khan casually replied. "Is it possible to know where I am? Also, I can't find my phone anywhere."
"I'm Lieutenant Ava Holger," The woman declared, "But everyone in the thirty-seventh battalion calls me Doctor or Doc. Come, I'll show you around."
Khan nodded and followed her through the corridor that expanded after the room. The two eventually crossed a large area that featured multiple screens and many unknown soldiers that didn't hesitate to inspect Khan curiously as he passed in front of the entrance.
Lieutenant Holger didn't stop and led Khan across a few corridors and other rooms. He could quickly understand that the structure was larger than his previous moving camp, but he understood its actual size only when the soldier made him exit it.
A green plain covered with short grass expanded past the structure. Khan could see a series of small metal habitations divided by small paths and two large roads that divided the encampment into four parts.
The habitations were rectangular and simple. Khan guessed that they contained only two rooms. Also, he noticed how the main structure just crossed didn't have wheels and represented the center of the encampment.
The encampment had hundreds of small habitations, and Khan could sense the many presences inside them as he followed the Doctor. She didn't leave his silent doubts unanswered and resumed her explanation during the walk. "This is one of the central areas assigned to the thirty-seventh battalion. We have moved your team here to brief you. It's curious that I'm not allowed to know the contents of their reports."
Khan pretended not to hear her. His companions had probably preferred to disclose the matters related to the anti-mana project to a superior to avoid spreading unnecessary rumors. He would have done the same since it was unclear how the Global Army would react to the news.
"Your spell has fried your belongings," Lieutenant Holger explained. "The chaos element and technology don't go along very well. Even your sheath has fallen prey to your ability. Was that your first time using it in battle?"
"How do you know that?" Khan asked.
"Chaos wielders are rare," The Lieutenant explained. "The number of soldiers who end up with that element is constantly shrinking, so it's really hard to find someone capable of using it in battle, especially at such young age."
Khan only nodded. He didn't want to reject that compliment through a simple lie, but he wasn't in the mood to make a smart remark either. The Doctor glanced at him to study his silent acceptance, but she couldn't see anything past his poker face.
The quadrant where the Lieutenant was leading Khan had larger habitations and a big interactive table in a relatively empty area. Khan could see multiple soldiers staring at the map depicted on the table and applying marks by simply touching it. Still, they all raised their heads when Khan and the Doctor approached them.
"You are awake!" A middle-aged man with a military uniform that showed three stars on each shoulder happily shouted. "Come, come. We have a lot to talk about. I hope that you didn't get tired of the fighting because I've already assigned you to the elite assault team ordered by HQ."
****
Author's notes: Little trivia. The novel's title was initially supposed to be "Chaos Wielders", but then editors and fellow authors suggested finding something catchier.. The current title still fits perfectly, but it's nice to finally use this name.