Everything was silent. No one dared to speak in front of that surprising spectacle. Khan had flung the Ef"i away, and the latter had dug a hole into the wall during the impact.
The drops of green blood falling from Khan"s foot and the wall"s edges added a menacing feeling to the scene. Even Khan began to worry after he lowered his leg. He feared that his attack might have killed his opponent.
"He must be alive, right?" Khan wondered as pain started to spread from his right shoulder. "He must have had mana as protection!"
Khan instinctively glanced toward Lieutenant Unchai, but the soldier wasn"t looking at him. Everyone in the area was staring at the hole, waiting for the Ef"i to show some trace of life.
Some debris eventually fell out of the hole and hinted at movements in its insides. Khan kept his eyes fixed on that spot until the familiar alien figure became visible.
Khan heaved a sigh of relief, but his expression froze when the alien crawled out of the hole and straightened his position. The Ef"i had a deep foot-shaped injury at the center of his torso, which leaked blood over his body.
That gory sight made most of the recruits divert their eyes, and even some of the Ef"i couldn"t help but cover their gazes. Only Khan, Lieutenant Unchai, and Teco didn"t blink at that sight. They could see part of the alien"s internal organs through that injury, but the scene didn"t cause any reaction in their minds.
The Ef"i glanced at his injury before wearing a wide smile. He placed a hand on his chest and gave voice to a clear word that Khan recognized as his name. "Eztli!"
Khan didn"t show any happiness at that event. Eztli had suffered a severe injury, but he appeared unwilling to abandon the fight. Even Teco wore a complicated expression but remained silent in front of his student"s determination.
"The Ef"i are crazy," Khan thought when he saw Eztli lowering his arm, closing his eyes, and tensing his body.
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Eztli"s muscles bulged from under the tight open garments that covered his shoulders and the side of his torso. Khan could see the flow of blood intensifying during that process and tainting his short tight trousers.
The muscles seemed to follow a precise rhythm that Khan could only connect to a technique. Eztli wanted to perform a move that used mana, and Khan"s expression inevitably lost every trace of emotion at that sight.
Khan jumped off the arena to shoot toward Eztli. A kick flew toward the alien before he could complete gathering the energy for his technique and sent him back inside the wall.
Eztli wasn"t immune to his blows anymore. Khan had kicked his face and had easily flung him inside the hole. The alien had left a trail of green blood during his flight, but everyone could still see his legs coming out of the wall.
"Make him surrender!" Khan shouted while turning toward Teco, but the latter didn"t even bother to look at him.
Khan turned toward Lieutenant Unchai at that point, but even the soldier appeared conflicted about the matter. Different emotions filled his face, with sadness being the most intense.
"What am I supposed to do?" Khan asked. "Do I have to kill him if he doesn"t give up?"
"Teco won"t stop the battle since faswite is on the line," Lieutenant Unchai explained. "Try to knock him down. Nothing will happen to you if he dies in the process."
"That"s great!" Khan cursed in his mind. "Killing someone when I"m not even seventeen can only do good things to my already broken mentality!"
Khan began to feel angry and annoyed, but he didn"t back down from that situation. The army wasn"t a playground. He didn"t want to kill Eztli, but the alien wasn"t helping him in the matter.
"Just stay down," Khan begged in his mind, but Eztli didn"t listen to his silent request.
Eztli"s legs twitched while he tried to crawl out of the hole. His tail and claws eventually pointed at the wall and helped him sliding out of the wall, but Khan delivered a kick as soon as he saw his head.
The alien flew back inside the hole as more blood came out of his injury. Khan maintained his aloof expression when he inspected the scene, but a tinge of sadness inevitably seeped into his gaze. Killing felt so pointless there, but he had to continue fighting for humankind.
Khan was even aware that backing down from the fight might lose him the respect of the Ef"i. His position inside the Global Army would also improve after winning the battle. Everything depended on whether he had the guts to pursue that path until the end.
The images of the nightmare inevitably appeared in Khan"s vision. He felt cold and devoid of any motion as the Ef"i struggled to come out of the hole and showed his head.
Khan delivered a powerful kick to the Eztli"s head as soon as it entered his vision. The alien flew deeper into the hole at that time, and his belly ended up hitting the upper parts of the small tunnel. The impact with those rocks made some of the blood flowing out of the injury splash and fly on Khan"s face, but he barely felt that.
Lieutenant Unchai"s sadness intensified as he kept track of Khan"s actions. He could see the man ready for war hidden behind those young features. A simple tournament was forcing Khan to grow used to that side of him, and the soldier partially blamed himself.
The other recruits had different reactions. Many humans still found it hard to inspect the scene, but those who could began to look at Khan in fear. They could barely believe that one of their companions was capable of such coldness.
Instead, the aliens had all managed to focus on the scene by then. They had abandoned the anger caused by Khan"s dishonorable actions and had worn solemn expressions. None of them dared to make a sound while their friend was suffering a beatdown.
Khan"s eyes flickered when he saw that Eztli"s injury worsened and started to release more blood. The muscles on his abdomen began to bulge and hinted at the summoning of mana for another technique.
Khan promptly grabbed Eztli"s foot and dragged him out of the hole while throwing him back into the arena. The alien lost his concentration and dispersed the acc.u.mulated mana, but he landed on his knees and avoided sliding on the ground.
However, the sudden dispersion of mana made his injury lose even more blood. Eztli created a small green pool under him while he remained crouched on the ground, and his complexion paled. He seemed on the verge of fainting, but his sheer will was keeping him awake.
Khan couldn"t allow Eztli to stretch that battle any further. The alien had to faint now, or he would become a murderer.
Eztli tried to stand up, but Khan arrived above him in an instant. His body was already airborne by the time Eztli planted his first foot on the ground.
Khan"s leg rotated until his heel landed on Eztli"s neck, and the impact slammed the alien on the ground. More blood flowed out of his injury and enlarged the green puddle, but the Ef"i"s eyes finally closed after that attack.
"Finally!" Khan shouted in his mind before noticing that his situation wasn"t ideal either.
Blood had continued to flow out of his shoulder during the battle. His uniform had gained a large dark patch that didn"t mix well with his slightly pale complexion.
Khan wanted to turn toward Lieutenant Unchai, but he stopped when he heard a splashing noise coming from his feet. The puddle of green blood had reached his shoes, and a wet sensation was spreading under his heels.
"[The humans win],"
"We won the tournament!"
Teco and Lieutenant Unchai suddenly announced while Khan was busy staring at his shoes. They had initially been dark-blue, but the green blood had covered them with a completely different shade. That sight had also filled his eyes with helplessness.
Luke and Martha forced themselves to give voice to excited cries and clap their hands, but the other recruits weren"t in the mood to show their support toward Khan after that gruesome scene.
Khan showed a weak smile toward his two friends before nodding toward his proud Lieutenant. Then, he exchanged a series of polite and respectful glances with the Ef"i. Teco even stepped into the arena and shook his hand before crouching toward Eztli to inspect his injuries.
"Take this," Teco said in a bad accent before Khan could leave the arena. "Give it to your leader."
Khan glanced at the small lump of faswite before grabbing it with great care. The silver mineral was cold and incredibly light, even if it was only a tiny piece. It radiated a strange scent, similar to the plants seen at the beginning of the tunnel, but Khan didn"t spend time confirming that vague guess.
"You did good," Lieutenant Unchai announced when Khan handed the faswite to him. "Make sure to perform well in the missions, and the Global Army will prepare something for you in the second semester."
"When do the missions start?" Khan asked when he recalled about that event.
"Officially?" Lieutenant Unchai laughed. "Tomorrow!"
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Author"s notes: I"m far better. The fever is down, and the throat has also stopped hurting in the last hours. I think I"m ready to go back to full speed, so you can expect more chapters from tomorrow onward. Today it will be the usual one for chaos and a long one for demonic sword.
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