C355 - Answer
Khan could sense that his body suffered when using the [Blood Shield] at full power. He used the check-up technique while the clotted blood vessels covered his arms, so he could see how quickly some important organs deteriorated while the alien ability was active.
Khan had to disperse the technique after a few seconds to avoid facing drawbacks. He took a few deep breaths as he unfolded his sleeves and calmed down. He would need to perform a few tests before using the [Blood Shield] in an actual battle, but he felt satisfied that the procedure had been a success.
"[So, you have improved the overall sturdiness and extension]," Caja commented while Khan calmed down. "[Still, the burden that your body has to carry to activate the technique has also increased. You might end up killing yourself if you aren't careful]."
"[These arts carry great danger]," Khan revealed, "[But they also grant great power]."
"[Power]," Caja sighed as she placed a finger on her left temple. "[The Nele can't condone such gruesome and dangerous practices. They go against our very nature]."
Khan could only nod at that remark. He didn't feel too disappointed. He had done his best to establish a good relationship with the Nele. Khan couldn't blame himself if they decided to refuse him anyway.
"[However, it's clear that your understanding of mana goes beyond human standards]," Caja continued, "[Far beyond them actually. I never thought I'd live to see a human like you]."
"[So]?" Khan asked when Caja's silence stretched for a few seconds. Jenna also couldn't hold back from staring at her.
"[Jenna, do you realize how dangerous it is to accept an alien in our inner circle]?" Caja scolded since Jenna didn't stop staring at her. "[It's not a decision that we can take back, and it might even have heavy repercussions in the future]."
"[I don't think he would hurt us]," Jenna stated.
"[Sadly, politics go beyond personal feelings and honest intentions]," Caja explained as she fixed her dark, piercing eyes on Khan. "[What would happen if your superiors compel you to reveal our weaknesses? How can I feel safe knowing that this seemingly simple decision might lead to our destruction]?"
Caja was exaggerating, but Khan couldn't blame her. It was her job to consider the worst-case scenarios, especially when it came to aspects that had remained hidden from other species for a very long time.
Khan couldn't lie. He had no answers that could reassure Caja, and his promises weren't enough since he couldn't back them up with actual power or status. He was nothing more than a second-level warrior asking for something that went far beyond his reach.
Still, both Caja and Jenna waited for an answer, especially the latter. Khan felt able to read Jenna's meaningful expression. She wanted him to say something that could lead to Caja's approval.
'Why is she even so into all of this?' Khan wondered as he immersed himself in Jenna's expression. 'We are talking about her species. I should be nothing more than an unnecessary risk.'
The answer to those doubts was simple but deep, and Khan only had to accept it to find it. The mana was telling Jenna that he was trustworthy, and that was enough for her.
'They really are similar,' Khan sighed in his mind as memories took control of his thoughts.
"[I can't address your doubts]," Khan eventually replied, "[I simply can't. Yet, I know that I don't want to see anything bad happening to your species. You don't deserve that]."
"[You barely know us]," Caja pointed out.
"[But you resemble a species dear to me]," Khan responded. "[They are worthier than humans. I'm sure the same applies to you]."
"[Are you asking me to trust you out of a mere resemblance to someone I don't even know]?" Caja questioned.
"[I'm asking you to trust my feelings]," Khan corrected.
Caja fell silent, but her face showed no reactions. She didn't expect Khan to bring the topic to a field so close to her species, but that could still be a clever tactic to gain her trust.
However, it was impossible to miss how attached Khan was to the whole matter. He had also drunk Jenna's tea, so there was a high chance that his words couldn't get more honest.
"[Humans aren't like us]," Caja sighed. "[Their emotions can change drastically during the long life that mana grants. Still, what kind of Nele would I be if I rejected such honest feelings]?"
Jenna smiled, and Khan's eyes also lit up, but Caja spoke before they could jump to conclusions. "[I'll watch you closely. Consider this as a testing period. You will gain access to part of our culture, but you won't get to its deeper secrets until I decide otherwise]."
"[That's perfect]!" Khan couldn't help but exclaim. "[Thank you]!"
"[Don't thank me yet]," Caja snorted before turning toward Jenna. "[I believe you want to take care of this, right]?"
"[Leave it to me]," Jenna exclaimed in a gentle but happy tone. "[I'll introduce him to our world]."
"[Good]," Caja announced while standing up. "[I'll return to my duties then]."
"[Thank you again, ma'am]," Khan repeated.
"[Caja is more than fine]," Caja chuckled as she pulled her hair to show her proud expression. "[Don't make me feel old. I'm still in my prime]."
Khan smiled and followed Caja with his eyes as she left the hut. Soon, her presence escaped from his senses, which forced him to move his attention on Jenna.
"[What happens now]?" Khan asked since Jenna limited herself to smile.
"[I'll do as I said]," Jenna revealed as she stood up and approached Khan to take his hand. "[I will introduce you to the Nele's world]."
Khan could only follow Jenna's gentle pull. He grabbed the knife and stored it back in its sheath as he stood up and followed the Nele. Jenna didn't let go of his hand even after they left the hut, and he didn't oppose that decision.
The two strolled among the woods, and Jenna smiled whenever the environment captured Khan's attention. She seemed to enjoy seeing him so focused on her home, and she didn't hold back from pulling him toward unique flowers or special features of the area.
The stroll brought the two next to the training area and back on the main path. The Nele on the road remained stunned seeing Jenna holding Khan's hand so casually, but her happy face told them that all of that was consensual.
"[Won't the other Nele get the wrong idea about us]?" Khan asked once Jenna led him on the woods on the other side of the main path.
"[Caja will explain everything soon enough]," Jenna revealed while lifting the hand clenched to Khan's palm. "[Why? Do you hate this]?"
"[No, but we usually don't do this with friends]," Khan stated.
"[I want to do it]," Jenna calmly responded. "[Would you prefer me to hold back]?"
"[I guess it's fine if that's what you want]," Khan sighed.
"[I knew we were compatible]," Jenna giggled as she stepped closer to Khan to lay her head on his shoulder. "[I wonder how this would feel with my one]."
"[Peaceful]," Khan whispered as memories filled his mind.
"[I hope this brings you part of that peace]," Jenna said in a serious tone.
Khan glanced at the face resting on his shoulder. Jenna appeared slightly worried. She didn't only care about her urges with her behavior. She also wanted to comfort Khan a bit.
"[We might have really ended up together]," Khan sighed as a sense of defeat invaded his mind. He gave up on trying to evaluate Jenna through human standards and accepted her for who she was.
"[That shouldn't stop us from enjoying what we can have]," Jenna uttered.
"[That sounds so wrong]," Khan laughed, but he let go of all the sensations that had no place in that relationship. Once he removed lust, curiosity, and other negative thoughts, he felt able to appreciate Jenna's positive and wonderful aspects.
"[That way]," Jenna exclaimed, and the two resumed their stroll.
Khan experienced nostalgic feelings as he smirked, talked, and joked with Jenna. It was rare for him to have friendships with women that featured no sexual tension or simple attraction. Even Amber didn't fit in that category.
The only pure friendship that Khan could remember was with Azni. Things were completely different with Jenna, and the two had even admitted that they liked each other, but Khan still felt similarities in how he could treat her.
It felt liberating to ignore the potential consequences of certain actions. Khan could caress Jenna's hair, pull her toward areas that made him curious, and accept her touch knowing that those gestures wouldn't involve anything romantic.
That relationship had the potential to become one of the most honest that Khan had ever experienced, and he welcomed it with open arms. He actually started to embrace Jenna's spontaneous gestures as the stroll continued.
"[We are here]," Jenna announced when the two reached a small lake filled with greenish water.
The water could look dirty at first glance, but Khan quickly noticed that its greenish color came from the vegetation nearby and on the lake's bed. The liquid was so clear that he could almost count the short plants growing inside it.
"[How can you even have something like this here]?" Khan questioned.
"[That's a secret]," Jenna laughed as she let go of Khan's hand and approached the lake's shores.
Khan felt curios, but all the feats achieved during the stroll crumbled when Jenna pulled her jumper to remove it and throw it on the ground. Her smooth and sensual back filled his view, and it didn't take long before her lower half also became naked.
"[What are you doing]?!" Khan exclaimed as his eyes inevitably inspected every inch of Jenna's figure.
Khan couldn't stress enough how beautiful Jenna was. She lacked Yeza's intense sensuality, but her figure carried a captivating harmony that made Khan's gaze glued on her perfect pale-green skin.
'Don't they have underwear or something?' Khan cursed as he tried his best to calm down, but Jenna only worsened the situation.
"[You have to remove the blood from the procedure]," Jenna explained while half-turning toward Khan. "[Do you need help undressing]?"
Jenna had almost exposed the entirety of her front without any shame, and Khan had to fight against his deeper instincts to avoid having lustful thoughts.
Khan needed a few seconds to realize that his fingers and trousers still had the strange rat's blood on them. He had even passed some of that to Jenna's hand, but she didn't mind it. She appeared entirely at ease even while Khan inspected her from head to toe.
"[I'm good]," Khan muttered as he removed his clothes.
Jenna showed no hesitation in inspecting Khan's nude figure. She shared his curiosity and lust, but she only revealed a bright smile and stepped inside the lake when she felt to have looked enough.
"[Aren't you coming]?" Jenna asked as she walked toward the center of the lake.
Khan's mind was a mess, but he still decided to enter the lake. The bed deepened quickly, but the warm water never crossed his shoulders. As for Jenna, she had half of her chest exposed as she waited for Khan to reach her.
"[This is the best spot]," Jenna exclaimed as she lifted an arm out of the water and stretched it toward Khan.
Khan felt defeated once again. He couldn't get rid of his impure thoughts in that situation, but he did his best to suppress them as he approached Jenna and took her hand.
"[You should be able to feel the difference if we are this clos-]," Jenna began to say as she tried to lay on Khan's right side, but a high-pitched moan escaped her mouth when her chest touched his arm.
"[I'm sorry]," Jenna quickly followed as she slowly tried to lay on Khan again. "[I didn't expect the sensation to be so intense]."
"[You are impossible]," Khan sighed as he reached for Jenna's face to remove a wet strand of hair from her forehead. "[Don't be so careless around others]."
"[But I'm not around others]," Jenna pointed out. "[I'm with you]."
The honesty and firm trust expressed by Jenna's face were heartwarming. Her mind was probably even messier than Khan, but she was still doing her best to introduce him to the Nele's world.
Khan knew that Jenna was also fulfilling her curiosity, but he couldn't blame her for that. Slowly, the liberating feeling from before returned stronger than ever. If they could do that together, it was safe to assume that they could become sincere friends.
"[I give up]," Khan whispered. "[Take your time. I'll wait]."
Jenna nodded as she slowly got closer. She hesitated from time to time, especially when she rubbed her sensitive spots on Khan, but she eventually calmed down.
"[Do the Nele always teach mana like this]?" Khan wondered when he felt Jenna relaxing on his arm.
"[No, we rarely get so close since we grow used to how we feel when we are young]," Jenna revealed. "[Yet, you have already been introduced to mana, so I need something more drastic to make you notice our different approach]."
"[And you are also having fun]," Khan declared.
"[This is so exciting]," Jenna giggled while laying her head on Khan's shoulder and tightening her grasp on his arm. "[I can't wait to fall in love]."
"[You are so naughty]," Khan joked.
"[Aren't you also like that]?" Jenna asked.
Khan rolled his eyes. He couldn't deny that statement when he thought about his sexual life with Liiza. Still, he only voiced a faint "[maybe]" to avoid triggering questions.
Jenna laughed when she heard that, but she understood that the time to go back to the main topic had arrived. She lifted her head and stretched her free arm to place her palm on the lake's surface. Mana then left her figure, but her energy dispersed when it touched the water.
"[I don't know all the details of your arts]," Jenna announced. "[However, I've understood a few things while I watched you modifying the flesh. You imposed a specific behavior on the blood to make the technique express it]."
"[That's correct]," Khan admitted without showing any surprise toward Jenna's sharp senses.
"[Your fundamentals are sound]," Jenna declared. "[I think some of the most talented members of my species would have a hard time being your equal there. Still, our approach is completely different]."
The water a few meters from Khan and Jenna suddenly surged and created a short column that flew for a couple of seconds before falling back into the lake. Some drops ended on Khan's face, but he was too captivated to care about them.
Something incredible had happened. The water seemed to have moved out of its own volition, and Khan had only sensed a faint burst of mana during the event.
"[Do you want to see it again]?" Jenna asked.
"[Yes, please]," Khan exclaimed as he prepared his senses to pay extra attention to everything happening in his surroundings.
Jenna waited until she felt that Khan's attention had reached its peak before rereleasing her mana. Strands of energy came out of her free arm and fused with the lake. Initially, Khan had believed that the mana had disappeared, but he could sense how faint strands remained in the water.
Those strands of mana slowly flowed toward a distant spot in the lake before fusing and generating the same surge as before. Khan didn't miss anything now, but that only intensified his shock.
Controlling the mana when it was at some distance from the body was quite hard but far from impossible. Only a handful of soldiers would be able to use spells otherwise.
However, the interesting aspect of Jenna's performance came from the small quantity of mana used. Also, she didn't activate any spell. She had only sent a faint input, but the water had reacted accordingly.
"[Did you get it]?" Jenna asked.
"[I know what happened]," Khan replied, "[But I don't know how you did it]."
"[I expected as much]," Jenna revealed. "[You have learnt to sense, control, and change the mana. You know how to impose your will through your energy, but you have never tried to talk to it]."
"[Talk to the mana]?" Khan questioned.
"[Exactly]," Jenna chuckled as she waved her free hand to point at the whole environment. "[Mana is everywhere. It has different natures and purposes depending on the area, but it can turn into almost everything if it wants]."
"[What about the limits of the elements]?" Khan asked.
"[Who said that elements have limits]?" Jenna wondered. "[Sure, someone with the water element will have an easier time talking to the mana near lakes and ponds, but that's not absolute. Mana is mana. Its temporary shape doesn't prevent it from changing]."
Khan would have a harder time understanding what Jenna meant if he didn't learn from Liiza how the Niqols used their spells. They focused on taking control of an area before activating the effects of their mana, but he could see how a subtler approach could work.
"[Give it a try]," Jenna cheerfully ordered.
"[It's too dangerous]," Khan immediately refused. "[I might hurt you]."
"[Don't fail then]," Jenna responded as her head went back on Khan's shoulder.
Khan came up with countless excuses and even more replies, but something in Jenna's calm expression told him that none of them would work. Resolve built up inside him at that point. In theory, he had everything he needed to succeed.
Khan placed his left palm on the lake's surface and took deep breaths before summoning his mana. Strands of purple-red energy began to leave his body, but the water suddenly churned and splashed all over Jenna and him.
"[You must be gentler]," Jenna scolded. "[You aren't using your mana to do something. You aren't even giving orders to the mana around you. You are asking a favor to a stranger]."
'How do I even talk to mana?' Khan wondered before closing his eyes to immerse himself in the environment's symphony.
The various strands of mana around Khan had different shades and filled the black world seen by his closed eyes. He could understand where the lake's influence stopped to make room for the air and the various trees, but he didn't know how to interact with that.
The symphony became messy as soon as Khan released a strand of mana. The properties of his element seemed too intense to blend with the environment. The energy around him rejected his presence by shattering and giving birth to violent reactions.
"[Gentler]!" Jenna scolded again. "[How did you approach us when you didn't know how we would react? How did you touch me when you were still worried about our relationship? How did you hold your one when you had yet to understand what she liked]?"
Khan loudly exhaled as he let go of every intention or desire. Only a faint worry and shyness remained in his mind as he released his mana inside the lake. He didn't ask anything. He was merely focused on avoiding hurting the water.
Something strange happened as Khan kept his eyes closed. The symphony stopped shattering and accepted the addition of Khan's mana. New colors appeared in the dark world inside his mind, and an intense purple-red shade eventually forced him to look at a distant spot.
Bubbles came out a few meters in front of Khan before a proper hole opened. The water had merely carried the primal nature of his mana and expressed it in a different spot, but that seemingly meaningless reaction sounded like a proper statement to him.. It was as if the lake had given an answer.
To be continued