Chaos' Heir

943  Conditioning

Khan didn't have [The Pure Trees]'s azure symbols to bolster the trio's perception. He didn't even know how they worked. Things might have been different if he had studied them with his current senses, but Nitis was outside his reach.

Khan wasn't even sure how to teach that field. His perception had always been naturally good, and the transformation had pushed it to a superior level. He was a natural, and Nitis' perfect environment and his mindset had only highlighted that talent.

The Global Army had techniques and training regimens that could improve the soldiers' perception, but everything felt artificial and unnatural when Khan looked at them. So, he decided to develop something better suited to his knowledge and style.

Initially, Khan had considered manipulating the trio's energy through his influence. He had already succeeded with Roger, and that process would also improve his journey toward the mysterious evolution past mana. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

However, Khan's energy grew more unruly by the day, especially as he dived deeper into the nature of his element. He could hold back and achieve decent results, but the process would be mind-numbingly slow.

Hence, Khan had opted for something more extreme, a shock therapy of sorts. His aura was already intense beyond reason, and fueling it with mana basically turned it into an attack. Exposing the three young warriors to it could theoretically force their bodies to develop a specific sensitivity, and Moses' apparent progress finally showed some hope.

From the outside, the scene didn't feature anything outside the ordinary. Khan was simply standing behind the three kneeled young warriors, enveloping them in his eyes' radiance.

The occasional ripples that ran through the air were the only strange detail afflicting the event. The scene twisted at times as if submerged in an unbearable heat. Yet, nothing burned.

Things were very different for the three warriors. The trio felt submerged in raging waves that threatened to destroy their skin. The pressure was almost unbearable and intensified with each passing second.

Nevertheless, being exposed to that ethereal but intense pressure awakened something in the three warriors. They couldn't feel that invisible attack through their ears, skin, eyes, tongues, or noses, not properly, at least. So, their minds gradually shifted their focus, reaching for something they still didn't understand.

Meanwhile, Khan watched those gradual changes with his bare eyes. He saw the trio's perception expanding toward something new, something foreign. The change was minute and temporary, but Khan hoped enough sessions would imprint the feeling in the three warriors' minds.

The theory was also sound. Some people developed their noses by exposing themselves to various smells, eventually learning to discern the faintest ones. Others could train their ears to become sensitive to the slightest noise. The processes were different, but a path existed nonetheless.

The Niqols' perception required an awakening rather than gradual tempering, initially at least. The three warriors needed to become aware of that sixth sense before working on improving it. Submerging them into Khan's extremely noticeable aura was bound to do the trick, even if the process was quite forceful.

'What would they say about this method?' Khan wondered. 'It doesn't exactly match their long time spent understanding and acknowledging the mana.'

Khan only had to focus on keeping his aura harmless, leaving him with much room for thoughts. His mind inevitably compared his approach to what he had learned during his travels. His training method was undeniably human due to its forceful nature, but he preferred to see it as an expression of his extreme personality.

'Maybe the old ways were like this,' Khan considered. 'I'm hoping to trigger a quasi-mutation in the end.'

As harmless as Khan tried to be, his aura was too intense. Also, its destructive nature inevitably affected the environment after prolonged exposure, and those signs soon appeared.

Tiny cracks opened on the barren but resilient ground, gradually expanding and deepening. The air became electric, seemingly on the verge of lighting up or exploding. The warriors' uniforms also started straining as if on the verge of tearing apart.

Khan wanted the session to last longer but eventually retracted his aura. The young warriors fell forward after being freed from that oppressive presence, lying exhausted on the ground. Heavy sweat fell from their foreheads and drenched their uniforms, creating darker patches that highlighted their fatigue.

Prince Richard and Roger fainted on the spot while Moses struggled to remain awake. Khan held back a sigh, drawing his phone to summon medical teams to his location. As effective and quick as his training method seemed to be, the strain on the warriors' bodies was evident. The trio would be out of commission for an entire day, which wasn't ideal on an active battlefield.

Khan waited until medical teams appeared in the distance before flying away. He felt an invisible presence following his movements, but a second acceleration left it behind him. His figure eventually disappeared past the headquarters' perimeter, hovering over the barren landscape of the nearby quadrant.

'I would have lasted twice as long,' Khan thought, flying toward a distant hill. 'And that as a first-level warrior.'

Comparing the three warriors to Khan was unfair. He was aware of that. His talent and desperation had always made him push himself past his limits. That feature was the bane of his girlfriends and anyone who loved him and his greatest advantage.

Still, Khan felt disappointed nonetheless. The three warriors' lackluster resilience was another reminder of his difference. Moreover, that gap was bound to widen. Khan actually wanted to deepen it, too.

'Humans are so fragile,' Khan sighed, landing on the small hill before inspecting his surroundings. The area didn't have a single trace of life. The resilient ground prevented it from turning into a desert, but Khan's attention barely lingered on it before moving on to something else.

The symphony reflected in Khan's eyes was bright but ordinary. He had gotten used to Senerth's peculiarities, so spotting unusual features didn't take him long. Luckily, it seemed he had flown far enough to escape Bruno's curious gaze.

'Maybe he just wants to give me some privacy,' Khan considered. 'I can probably order him to leave me alone.'

Dismissing those thoughts, Khan looked at his feet. His gaze grew colder as he immersed himself in his training mindset. The ground cracked in response, and Khan stomped his foot before his aura did too much damage.

Soon, the hill was no more.