Pure awkwardness had fallen on the group. Khan's companions and the three Niqols who had kept track of the changes in the woods didn't know how to react to Ilman's dramatic behavior.
Khan had countless questions, but he blocked all of them out of fear of the answers that Ilman could give. He had already confirmed that the Niqols was crazy, so trying to understand him with a normal mindset was impossible. Only one doubt managed to survive that suppression and eventually made Khan speak.
"Did you get over Miss Liiza?" Khan asked, trying to appear as innocent as he could.
That question would have typically arisen suspicion, but the Niqols on the scene felt it to be perfectly normal since Ilman was its target. Everyone knew that Liiza had been the reason behind the fight, so it sounded legit for Khan to worry about that topic.
"Not at all!" Ilman laughed while patting Khan's back a few more times. "But you taught me how feelings alone aren't enough. I have to become a better man, both on the Niqols and human side."
Ilman let Khan go and moved his gaze on the ground. A tinge of shame appeared on his glowing eyes as calm and surprisingly reasonable words escaped his mouth. "Is my intense love the best for Liiza if it makes me hurt her? I should feel happy as long as she is happy. Thank you for teaching me that."
Ilman revealed an honest smile as his eyes returned on Khan. The latter couldn't help but nod and smile too in front of that sudden turn in his personality, but the Niqols didn't hesitate to shatter that faint satisfaction.
"I'll allow you to make Liiza happy until I become a man worthy of her love," Ilman stated in a solemn voice while grabbing Khan's shoulders. "I'll fight you for real if you hurt her."
Khan's eyes widened, but he quickly transformed his stupefied expression into a frown. He felt lucky that everyone knew about Ilman's character. The boy had been so convincing with his words that someone unaware of the situation would truly believe in the existence of a relationship between Khan and Liiza.
"Miss Liiza and I are merely acquaintances," Khan calmly explained, "And mostly due to political reasons. Don't jump to conclusions."
"Friends can't hide anything from each other!" Ilman laughed while letting Khan go again and turning toward the trees. "Don't make me regret my growth, and show me if a human can love better than a Niqols!"
Khan moved his questioning gaze on his three companions, but they limited themselves to suppress faint laughs. The disbelief in Khan's face was too funny for them. His pretense was so perfect that none of them suspected that emotion to be fake. Khan had shown it on purpose to hide how true Ilman's seemingly unreasonable words had been.
'Is he crazy or smart?' Khan wondered before turning toward the trees. 'Is our mana really compatible?'
The Niqols on the scene didn't believe a word Ilman said, but Khan had started to feel curious about the apparent connection that the boy felt. Khan pretended to study the trees while he focused on his sensitivity to mana to check how his energy reacted to Ilman, and a curse inevitably resounded in his mind.
Khan felt at ease next to Ilman. The latter only happened to be in a troublesome position, but his character wasn't bad. It even suited Khan's almost desperate desire for truth in his life. He could always trust Ilman's words, and that was enough to make them compatible.
'Maybe he might help me once Liiza and I come out in the open,' Khan guessed, but his thoughts soon went back on the mission.
Ilman was a great addition to the hunting team. Khan had tested his power first-hand, so he knew how strong the Niqols could be. Ilman might even be able to match him if he managed to keep his cool during a battle. Moreover, his potential was great due to his peculiar position in the alien society.
"[Do you know what we have to do here]?" Khan asked, forsaking the human language now that the situation had turned serious.
"[Of course]," Ilman replied in a firm tone. "[Did you already divide the targets among yourselves]?"
"[We'll charge at the venomous specimen together and take it down quickly]," Khan explained. "[I'll take the monster with the sound abilities afterward while the others clear the area]."
"[I'll help you out with your target then]," Ilman stated. "[It's better to take it out quickly too]."
"[We have a plan then]," Khan exclaimed before exchanging a nod with Ilman and his three companions.
The five didn't hesitate to shoot inside the woods. They knew where their targets were, so everything was a matter of being silent while approaching them.
The woods were hard to cross. The terrain was relatively flat, but it featured a layer of soft black leaves that slowed down the group's advance. Its insides were also dark due to the thick black crowns connecting the various trees and creating a natural membrane that shielded the surface from the sunlight.
The large dark trunks often forced the five students to change direction and remain on the correct path. They had to reach the small lake from the right side to cut every escape path for the pack, so they often had to adjust their position by using the images in their cubes.
No one spoke, but no one felt tense either. The last week had made the students aware of their battle prowess and had forced them to grow used to fighting monsters. The two-headed dogs weren't too resilient either, so inflicting killing blows wouldn't be too problematic. Those creatures would have never survived for so long if it weren't for the abilities of the four leaders.
Khan eventually raised his arm to perform a signal that the group had decided beforehand. He had finally sensed the presence of the pack among that seemingly empty environment, but the creatures that had entered his range weren't monsters. They were only Tainted animals that the four leaders had probably appointed to patrol the area.
Khan glanced at Ilman while picking his cube, and the latter imitated him to create a mental conversation that wouldn't release any sound in the environment.
'[There are four Tainted animals ahead],' Khan explained. '[Can you sense them]?'
'[Of course],' Ilman confirmed, '[Two on the right, one straight ahead, and one hidden on the left].'
'[How fast are you]?' Khan continued.
'[Faster than the last time],' Ilman transmitted while showing a confident smile.
Khan instinctively believed in the Niqols, so he came up with a plan that relied on him. '[Take care of the two on the right. I'll handle the others].'
'[Can you reach it before it warns everyone]?' Ilman questioned, but Khan limited himself to smirk before putting his cube away.
Ilman showed an excited expression as he took his position near Khan's right side and bent forward to prepare for the imminent sprint. Khan did the same while aiming at a path on his left and turning to glance at Kozh.
Kozh immediately understood the meaning behind that silent order. He crouched between his two companions and whispered a short countdown. "[Two, one, go]!"
Both Khan and Ilman shot ahead. The thick trees tried to hinder their sprints, but they revealed the full extent of their agility in that situation.
Khan crossed ten trees before finding a one-meter-tall two-headed dog in front of him. The dark spikes growing out of its brown fur and its two heads gave it odd proportions, but Khan didn't let the faint surprise spreading in his mind affect his task.
The two-headed dog turned to its right when it heard something, but Khan landed on its spiked back before it could even understand what was happening. His steps had been so faint that those needles bent instead of piercing his soles. His feet soon managed to touch the brown fur hidden behind them.
The Tainted animal tried to look at its back to understand what had landed there, but an unstoppable force soon slammed it on the ground and turned its rib cage into a mess of blood, fur, and shattered bones. Khan had used the creature as a foothold for his second sprint, and the latter couldn't endure the power released during his acceleration.
A second two-headed dog was in the distance, behind a series of trees. The creature was slightly bigger than its three companions, which had probably awarded it its position of squad leader in that small patrol team.
The Tainted animal had noticed Khan when he stopped on its companion, and its mouths opened to launch an alarm. Yet, a kick landed between its necks before any sound could come out of them.
Khan had noticed that the creature was slightly bigger than its companions, but he didn't care about that feature. His current proficiency level with the Lightning-demon style placed him far above Tainted animals in terms of battle prowess. Those beasts had become too frail in his eyes. He couldn't even consider them threats anymore.
The kick pierced skin, muscles, and bones. The Tainted animal opened into two parts as Khan's leg dug inside its torso and killed it on the spot. He reached so deep inside its body that he had to use his hands to remove the corpse from his limb after the attack ended.
Khan turned and saw Ilman nodding at him. The Niqols had two intact corpses lying at his feet. His kills had been far cleaner, but he didn't feel superior to his companions after witnessing how fast Khan could be.
The three Niqols who had remained behind the trees soon reached their position, and Khan made the group resume their advance. They met other Tainted animals patrolling the area after a few minutes, but he and Ilman took care of them easily.
The sound of splashes eventually spread through the quiet area. The event alerted Khan and the others about their arrival to the lair. Still, they didn't need that reminder since their senses had already notified them about the four powerful presences in the distance.
The five students didn't take much to become aware of the position of the four monsters. The mutated creatures appeared utterly unaware of their presence, so Khan and the others could study them in their natural environment and guess which abilities they had.
The telekinetic monster was easy to recognize due to its small size. The creature was lying on the lake's shores, but the students couldn't understand whether it was sleeping or not.
The venomous monster came after. The creature was scratching its back on a tree, and grey smoke came out of the trunk due to the corrosive properties contained in the creature's spikes. The group actually felt lucky to sense it there since it was the closest to their position.
The other two monsters were inside the lake. They seemed to be cleaning themselves, but their features were almost identical, so the students couldn't understand which one had the troublesome sound abilities.
The students picked their cubes to rehearse their offensive tactic in silence. Ilman's addition to their team felt fortunate now since he and Khan could shoot toward the two monsters in the lake at the same time. Still, the group's priority remained the venomous creature, and the current position of the pack clearly benefited them.
'[You go first],' Khan ordered to his three original companions. '[Ilman and I will arrive before you know it].'
Kozh, Vakha, and Ezinet nodded before shooting ahead. The layer of leaves on the ground dampened the noise released by their hurried steps, but the monsters couldn't fail to notice them once they grew too close. Loud barks resounded in the area before the students could reach the space occupied by the pack.
The venomous monster was the closest to the steps, and it didn't hesitate to leave its tree to rejoin its companions. Yet, two shadows suddenly reached the creature's sides and forced it to stop with their violent attacks.
Khan slammed his foot on the right side of its torso, and cracking noises resounded in the area. Ilman's palms fell on the left head, and a disgusting noise came out of that spot.
The two attacks slammed the dog on the ground, but they didn't manage to kill it. The monster instinctively released its spikes in that dangerous situation, but Khan and Ilman had made sure to remain outside their trajectory during their offensive.
The three students reached their companions when the monster's offensive ended. Their palms didn't hesitate to fall on the safe spots of the creature's body, and Khan and Ilman also had enough time to launch another attack.
The two-headed dog's body wasn't too powerful. It was even below average compared to other resilient monsters that Khan had fought in the past. That sudden but violent offensive killed the venomous specimen in mere seconds and turned the first part of their tactic into a success.
Barks resounded all around the students. The silent aura had turned into a loud mess in a matter of seconds, but they didn't mind it. They even showed confident expressions when they turned to gaze at their other targets.
Kozh, Vakha, and Ezinet quickly dispersed to take care of their opponents. They had to kill the telekinetic monster quickly, and one of them also had to handle the incoming Tainted animals.
Instead, Khan and Ilman shot toward the lake as their eyes darted between the two monsters. They wanted to understand which one had the dangerous sound abilities, but their opponents didn't mind revealing that secret.
A dark aura shone out of the specimen deeper into the lake and confirmed its identity. Yet, that radiance morphed before the two students could reach their targets, and multiple animal faces soon became visible among that glow.
****
Author's notes: 4-5 hours for the second chapter.