Khan didn't feel in his own body. Everything he had learnt to do in seventeen years of life had become useless in the span of a meditation. He used to know how much strength to apply to walk. He had learnt to ignore the many sensations that spread through his skin, ears, nostrils, mouth, and ears. He never once noticed the weight of his body, but that was over.
The years spent honing reflexes and developing instincts that took into consideration the limits of his body had become useless. Khan was different on a primordial level now. He almost felt overwhelmed by how much had changed in mere hours.
His body felt light. The tent was only three meters tall, but Khan felt able to jump over it without requiring mana. That lightness didn't even affect his strength. He had never believed that his muscles could hold so much power.
All that power mixed with his sudden lightness made his posture unstable. Khan had to think about balancing his strength to remain on his feet. His equilibrium was off, and he ended up swaying whenever he failed to control his power.
Those issues weren't too relevant compared to all the sensations that were assaulting his mind. Khan could feel the cold air inside his tent from the bare spots on his skin. The rays of light that passed in the fabric's holes were a bit too bright for his sensitive eyes. His ears picked sounds that went as far as the faint whispers in the tents around him. The scents of his habitation were different when they entered his nostrils. Even his own saliva had changed taste.
The changes weren't necessarily bad. Khan could understand what was happening rather quickly. He was experiencing the same intense sensations that Liiza could generate inside him by simply existing, with the only difference that they involved every aspect of his life now.
His mana had started to affect the entirety of himself, which naturally involved how he perceived the world in general. Khan was sensing and experiencing everything through organs enhanced by that magical energy. Those stark changes were only normal. They only felt overwhelming when they all happened at the same time.
Khan gave himself time to grow used to those changes. He couldn't test his new power with his senses all over the place anyway, so he stood still while waiting for everything to lose some intensity.
That time allowed Khan to focus again on his insides. He could vaguely calculate how only half of his flesh had fused with the mana. Everything else had only improved due to the influence that the energy spread.
That other half had yet to reach the proper fusion, but it had also grown immune to the lingering influence. Khan entered the meditative state to see how his training had changed after reaching that checkpoint, and he felt disappointed to notice that he couldn't spread his mana as before.
Khan could still accelerate the flow of mana, but it didn't directly affect his flesh anymore. Instead, meditating intensified the influence that lingered in the part that had yet to fuse with that energy.
The more intense version of that influence forced his non-fused flesh to improve, but it didn't allow him to focus on specific areas. Khan could only enhance himself as a whole now, which inevitably slowed down his overall growth. Still, that felt inevitable at his current level.
'No wonder it's harder to reach the higher levels,' Khan commented in his mind as he interrupted his meditation and dispersed the intense pain that had spread throughout his body.
His growth wasn't only slower now that he had to rely only on the influence of the mana that had already fused with his flesh. The process was also far more painful since it affected half of his body at the same time. Khan had raised the bar of the minimum suffering that he had to endure to improve.
Still, the breakthrough didn't only bring bad news. Khan's growth had suddenly become far slower and excruciating, but moving his mana inside his body had become far easier. The energy flow had become smoother since the entirety of his flesh had gained a basic attunement level now.
His mind slowly adapted to his new sensitivity. Khan felt that it would take him a few days to turn those intense sensations into his new normality, but he didn't feel worried about the next battles. Mere minutes in that condition had already made everything somewhat bearable. A night of sleep should be able to turn him battle-ready.
Khan waited a little more before deciding to move. At first, he jumped on his spot. It was strange to feel the actual tremors released during the impact of his feet with the ground, but that became easy to accept after a few minutes. He started to test his steps at that point, and finding the right balance took less and less as attempts piled on.
Khan alternated jumps, steps, sharp turns, and basic physical training to gain confidence in his new body. He had to persevere for an entire hour before feeling ready to test his martial arts, but he continued with the simple exercises even at that point.
His ignorance scared him. Khan didn't know anything about first-level warriors or above, and he had already tasted the fear of his own power when he was in Ylaco's training camp.
Khan wouldn't dare to go into battles that could potentially lead to casualties while wielding a power that could hurt his companions and himself. He could take risks in a safe environment, but everything on Nitis was about life and death right now.
Another hour had to pass before Khan grew almost used to his new state. His senses were finally starting to click with his instincts, and he didn't feel inside a foreign body anymore, not entirely at least.
Khan drew the first-grade knife from the sheath that never left his side and made his mana gather on its surface. His eyebrows arched when he saw how quickly he could send his energy to the weapon, but his new state didn't improve his control and manipulation. His sensitivity to mana had improved, but the breakthrough didn't affect the other two fields.
A deep breath escaped Khan's mouth after he placed the knife back in its sheath. The tent didn't give him much freedom, but he could stretch his legs without reaching the fabric on the other side.
Khan started with the simplest techniques of the Lightning-demon style as if he were trying to learn it from scratch. His legs moved slowly as he made sure that his mana followed at the correct speed.
His careful approach turned out to be unnecessary due to how much he had waited before approaching the martial art. Khan had already regained a good control over his body, and he had even learnt how quickly he could move mana now. His proficiency with those moves had reached the competent level, so it only took him a few slow attempts before growing used to his new features.
Khan felt almost whole after performing all the techniques of the Lightning-demon style. He wasn't perfect yet, but he was getting there. His mind only had to adapt to that new state.
The party had long since started by the time Khan felt in control of himself. It was even about to reach its final phases, but he didn't leave his tent yet. He wanted to see how his new body reacted to the booze, but a heavy doubt pressed on his thoughts and made him unable to join the event until he made up his mind about it.
'Should I tell the Global Army during the meeting?' Khan wondered as he sat on his bed and went over the many consequences that revealing his breakthrough could cause.
Khan had been in the Global Army for a little less than eleven months. The soldiers would definitely see his early breakthrough as proof of his talent. However, he knew that the [Blood Vortex] had something to do with the matter.
The Niqols' technique had made Khan save entire weeks of training even if he had used it only a handful of times. That alone proved how valuable the [Blood Vortex] had been, but it also created a troublesome possibility. The Global Army might connect his quick growth to his favorable position among the aliens and investigate him thoroughly.
Khan didn't know if he could hide his growth behind his mutations, but even that was clearly a risk. The safest option would be to remain silent, but he wanted the Global Army to learn about his talent. That didn't only involve a possible future with Liiza either. He needed merits to climb the ranks and learn more about the Nak.
The matter was quite annoying, and Khan couldn't find a solution on his own. Yet, he knew someone who knew a lot about life as a wealthy recruit. George had also earned his complete trust, so a serious conversation appeared necessary.
Khan had to interrupt his reasoning when he sensed three familiar presences approaching his tent. His sensitivity to mana didn't only allow him to identify the three Niqols. It also gave him the chance to notice them when they were still a few tents away from his habitation.
The trio moved directly toward his tent, and Khan didn't hesitate to jump out of his bed to unlock the entrance. Doku's surprised face unfolded in his vision when he lifted the fabric, but those raised eyebrows transformed into a relaxed smile in no time.
Khan moved to the side to let the three Niqols inside. Doku appeared quite drunk already, but a proud smile never abandoned his face. Instead, it only widened when he dropped a series of flasks to the ground and jumped on the bed.
Azni was blushing, and she continued to appear shy about that, but she hid her feelings behind her full cup. The girl limited herself to smile at Khan before hurrying on the bed and lying inside Doku's arms.
Liiza was the last to enter the tent. She was still wearing the cold expression that she showed in front of the others, but Khan quickly allowed her to relax by sealing the entrance.
Liiza jumped on Khan as soon as he straightened his back. He found his girlfriend in his arms, clinging with legs and arms on his waist and neck. Her lips found his mouth in no time, and the two soon found themselves on the ground.
"[I'm not in the best mental state today]," Khan whispered to Liiza's ear when he managed to lift his mouth from her lips or neck. "[I'm struggling to hold back]."
Liiza wanted to question Khan, but she had to cover her mouth to suppress the faint moan that the soft bite on her ear had generated. Her free hand instinctively reached the back of Khan's head to cling on his hair. He could sense her sensual pull, and everything felt far better with his new body.
Khan wasn't lying about his poor self-control. His body still felt too much right now, and he couldn't completely hold back, especially when those moments together had become rare.
Feeling Liiza clinging on his hair made Khan gave in to his feelings for a few seconds. Her pull only became stronger as his mouth descended through her neck and reached the opening of her robe on her chest.
Khan wasn't thinking straight, so he continued. Liiza ended up voicing a sweet moan when she took his head in his hands and brought him face to face with her.
Khan revealed a playful smile, and Liiza couldn't help but smile too even if she wanted to scold him. Neither of them didn't bother to glance at the bed even after Liiza's moan, but snores eventually reached their ears and made them turn toward the couple.
Doku and Azni had fallen asleep in each other's arms, and both of them snored pretty loudly. Khan snapped his fingers a few times to see if they woke up, but they appeared too drunk, tired, or both to bother about that gesture.
"[Khan, why are you so pushy tonight]?" Liiza asked without moving her gaze away from the couple.
"[I've become a first-level warrior]," Khan explained while imitating her and keeping his eyes on the couple. "[Everything is a bit too intense now]."
Khan had to turn toward Liiza when he sensed her hands clinging on the chest opening on his robe. Her eyes were wide, but a beaming smile had appeared on her face. She almost felt on the verge of crying due to how happy she felt about that achievement.
"[Maybe it's better to cuddle tonight]," Khan teased while caressing her cheek.
Liiza bit her lower lip as struggle appeared on her face, but the couple snored again and attracted her attention. She then fixed her eyes on Khan again while wearing a meaningful expression.
Khan widened his eyes in surprise, but another snore reached his ears. The couple appeared in a coma. They didn't react to any external stimulus, which made him give up on even trying to hold back.
"[Remember, slow]," Liiza whispered when she managed to find his ear in that storm of kisses. "[Everyone is drunk, but I still can't scream]."
"[You don't like slow]," Khan teased, but Liiza promptly bit his ear and made him laugh.
The two exchanged another meaningful glance at that point before immersing themselves in the silent pleasure that the previous weeks didn't give them the chance to enjoy.
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Author's notes: This chapter covers yesterday. I'll work on the first for today now.