C357 - Connection
Khan and Jenna wore the clothes brought by the boy. The Nele didn't seem to care about appearances in the settlement, so the two ended up with similar baggy dark jumpers and flexible trousers.
The quality of the clothes was nowhere near what Luke had given to Khan. The jumper's rough fabric scratched his skin, but he didn't mind that. He had worn far worse in the Slums. Besides, everything felt quite comfortable even if it was clearly cheap.
Khan had developed the habit of planning schedules, especially for his training, but Jenna didn't give him the time to think. As soon as they finished dressing up, she took his hand and led him across the woods to return to the main path.
A surprising and slightly heartwarming sight unfolded in Khan's vision when he reached the main path. The settlement had a relatively large circular square at its center, and multiple Nele gathered there to have their breakfast.
"[Come]," Jenna pulled Khan as multiple gazes fell on them.
Khan couldn't help but feel a bit out of place in that situation. The square had four large tables on one side, and fires flickered on them. A few Nele fed ingredients to the flames before gathering the liquid coming out of their bases into wooden bowls.
Long lines stretched from the tables. The Nele in the settlement orderly approached the fires and grabbed the bowls handled by those in charge of serving the breakfast.
It was clear that the procedure involved the Nele's customs, so Khan didn't want to join it after a mere day spent in the settlement. However, his opinion and desires didn't matter when Jenna kept his hand firmly sealed in her grasp.
Khan and Jenna got in one of the lines under everyone's watchful gazes. No one complained, but it was still hard to ignore the only foreigner in that usually quiet part of the day.
The Nele behind the tables didn't hold himself back from inspecting Khan either. He looked as old as Caja but not as gentle or open-minded. He hesitated to hand a bowl to Khan, but Jenna seized it from his hands and put an end to the issue.
"[They'll get used to it]," Jenna reassured in an apologetic tone when she led Khan to a relatively isolated spot in the square.
"[I don't blame them]," Khan stated as he sat on the ground and briefly inspected his surroundings.
Khan had sat because the Nele on the square had done the same. They had formed groups in different spots on the ground to enjoy their breakfast and talk. Still, their conversations were nothing more than whispers interrupted by random glances in Khan's direction.
"[It's usually louder]," Jenna revealed as she sat on Khan's right.
"[I can imagine that]," Khan uttered. "[It's fine. I would be far more suspicious in their situation]."
"[Give them time]," Jenna sighed as she placed her head on Khan's shoulder. "[They can sense what you are. They won't take long to trust you]."
"[Shouldn't you eat]?" Khan scolded.
"[I can eat like this if you stay still]," Jenna giggled as she neared her bowl to her mouth.
The breakfast was nothing more than a fuming dark-green soup that radiated appealing scents. Khan sniffed his bowl a few times before taking a short sip.
A storm of flavors filled his mouth, but a hot sensation soon suppressed them. The breakfast was almost scorching, but it didn't burn Khan. Moreover, it seemed to reinvigorate his slightly tired mind.
'Their cuisine is more than simple food,' Khan thought. 'They use their arts even on soups.'
Even the Niqols didn't go as far as using the mana in their meals, but Khan could find a few explanations for that. The Nele's approach suited those daily occurrences more, and there was a chance that the Niqols had something similar in their old ways.
Khan almost wolfed down the soup. It was delicious, and its high temperature didn't hinder his actions. Yet, Jenna eventually joked and forced him to take a short break. "[Not so quickly. Enjoy it properly]."
Even after the joke, Khan still emptied his bowl before everyone else. He couldn't get rid of that old habit so quickly, but he swore to do his best when among Nele. He could see how they didn't appreciate his quick meals too much.
Jenna took her time with her bowl, and her head never left Khan's shoulder. Khan tried to study his surroundings a bit more, but a bit of the soup spilled on Jenna's cheek due to her odd position, which forced him to move his attention back on her.
The Nele on the square almost couldn't believe how naturally Khan pulled his jumper's sleeve to clean Jenna's cheek. His actions carried no hesitations, and Jenna's behavior lacked discomfort or annoyance. Her evident acceptance almost showed how deeply she trusted Khan.
Caja had made an official announcement the previous night without adding many details. She had only stated that he wasn't a threat, but the Nele on the square felt that there was more to it. Some even managed to connect his presence to their recent stashing of supplies.
Curiosity inevitably built up in the Nele's minds. They shared Jenna's urges and interest in foreigners, but they didn't feel ready to drop their barriers just yet. However, they didn't hold back from studying the situation as much as possible.
Jenna didn't say much after finishing her meal. She continued to rest on Khan's shoulder as traces of drowsiness appeared on her face. Khan didn't know what to do without her directives, but the cute scene eventually led him to cuddle her a bit.
Of course, those intimate gestures only intensified the curiosity and surprise in the Nele on the square. The whispers grew louder, but Khan never managed to hear complete sentences.
Nele came and left the square as the breakfast continued, but all of them showed similar reactions at the sight of Khan and Jenna teasing each other. She often laughed, while Khan mostly scolded her, but his hands never left her hair or neck.
Jenna stood up only once the breakfast ended and the Nele began to remove the tables. She led Khan back into the woods and toward an isolated small hut that worked as a public bathroom.
The small bathroom featured a small pond that changed its water after every use and a hole that emptied itself on its own. Nothing there involved technology, which allowed Khan to confirm that the Nele could leave lasting orders even in materials like ground or water.
After that short stop, Jenna led Khan in an area they had already crossed a few times. The two soon found themselves at the edges of a relatively empty spot in the middle of the woods, with young Nele sitting on the ground as they listened to the words of an older alien.
Khan and Jenna's arrival made the older Nele fall silent, but Jenna promptly nodded to make her resume her speech. Khan quickly understood that the gathering was nothing more than a teaching session meant to instruct the younger generations about the Nele's ways.
A few core differences from the Niqols became evident as the lesson progressed. The Nele were born with high sensitivity to mana, but they still practiced to improve it. Yet, their exercises often involved personal conversations with the energy in their surroundings instead of a raw gathering of information.
Similar differences appeared when the lesson moved to the control field. The Nele's exercises focused on expressing orders and desires that the mana around them had to follow. They still delved into training aimed to enhance their overall ability to move their energy, but they appeared a bit superficial.
The manipulation field wasn't any different. The Nele's focus was on their surroundings since that's where their arts expressed their power. They didn't care about turning slaps into punches or anything similar as long as the mana in the environment could fulfill their requests.
Khan knew that everything explained during that lesson was quite secretive. The Global Army had gathered deep intel in the Nele's arts, but hearing a proper teacher gave an entirely different perspective.
Khan memorized all the words that reached his ears as he leaned on a tree at the training area's edges. Jenna stood at his side, but she respected the silence of the lesson and held back from teasing Khan to let him concentrate on those explanations.
Each lesson transformed and gained different shapes when it entered Khan's mind. He had the unique advantage of inspecting the matter from three different perspectives, so he dissected everything he heard and studied it through his broader knowledge.
Weaknesses inevitably became evident. Khan could see the shortcomings of the Nele's approach without even looking too hard for them. The synthetic mana alone could lower their offensive power, and achieving true mastery of their arts required harsh training since youth.
Still, the Nele's innate talents made those weaknesses less relevant. Humans or even Niqols would have a hard time becoming truly strong through those arts, but the Nele were an exception. That was the very reason behind the direction of their training.
The lesson lasted a few hours. The teacher alternated explanations to exercises when he corrected her students' approach to the field. It was nothing special, but Khan still immersed himself in the scene since it brought him back to his time in [The Pure Trees].
"[Today's lesson is over]," The middle-aged teacher eventually announced before turning toward the tree where Khan and Jenna were standing. "[Jenna, do you want to add something]?"
"[Sure]," Jenna gently exclaimed as she left the tree and showed smiles while walking among the sitting students to reach the teacher.
"[You all know Jenna]," The teacher stated. "[She is often busy on the other asteroids to keep track of Milia 222's situation, but her talent is greater than mine. Her insights in the mana are lessons that you can't miss]."
"[Thank you, Pascatte]," Jenna replied, "[But I won't share my insights today]."
Khan was enjoying seeing Jenna receiving so much respect, but his expression froze when she pointed at him and expressed her intentions. [Today, I want you to listen to a different perspective. Khan is a remarkable human. I'm sure you can learn something from him]."
The situation became incredibly awkward when all the Nele in the training area turned to look at Khan. He didn't expect Jenna to put him into that situation, but he forced himself to calm down and play along.
Khan left the tree to walk among the students while paying extra attention not to touch any of them. He soon reached Jenna and Pascatte, but he only found curious and distrustful gazes waiting for him. Even Pascatte didn't hide her reluctance.
Khan had learnt a lot from his time on Reebfell, and he had even taught the Niqols' arts to Martha. Still, holding a class of Nele forced him to summon the entirety of his knowledge. He couldn't expand on the topics touched during the lesson, but he didn't want to make a pointless speech either.
The students' innocent faces made Khan forget about the eventual political implications of that situation. He focused on what he liked about his previous job and fused those emotions with the honest desire to help those young Nele.
They deserved his lessons even more than the humans, so Khan didn't hold anything back.
"[Your approach to mana is marvelous]," Khan declared, doing his best not to ruin his accent. [However, it heavily relies on your environment and your innate abilities. I think you can improve the exercises targeting your individual control]."
Khan showed his hands and pulled down his sleeves before summoning a small lump of mana on each palm. Then, he moved those small spheres over his skin and made them circle his fingers a few times.
No one seemed to care about the odd shades of Khan's mana. The students actually appeared captivated by how easily he moved his energy over his body. Even Pascatte didn't hide her interest as she bent forward to get a clearer line of sight.
Jenna smiled when she noticed those reactions and took a silent step back to let Khan claim everyone's attention. Pascatte could straighten her back at that point, and she even glanced at her hands while thoughts ran through her mind.
"[You all can do this]," Khan declared once his demonstration ended. "[Why don't you try]?"
The students glanced at Pascatte, who nodded and triggered a series of attempts to replicate Khan's exercise. Sadly, all of them failed since the young Nele instinctively tried to rely on the environment to achieve that level of control.
'They are too used to controlling the mana outside their body,' Khan sighed in his mind. 'Maybe this exercise opposes their training too deeply.'
"[Khan, right]?" Pascatte called, interrupting Khan's thoughts. "[Can you show the exercise again]?"
Khan didn't expect that request, but he didn't let that chance go. He promptly repeated the exercise, and Pascatte didn't hesitate to get closer to him to study his hands carefully.
"[This might have potential]," Pascatte whispered. "[Can you be more specific on the execution]?"
Khan didn't know how to fulfill Pascatte's request. He could guide her through the exercise, but that would require physical contact. The only solution was to use Jenna as a middle-man.
"[Jenna, give me your hand]," Khan requested as he turned toward Jenna.
Jenna's face seemed on the verge of lighting up due to how happy she was to see Khan slowly finding his place in her home. She didn't hesitate to step forward to help him out, but Pascatte surprisingly got in her way.
"[Use me]," Pascatte exclaimed while stretching an arm toward Khan.
The request left even Jenna stunned, but she didn't say anything. She only felt a bit anxious to see Khan's first real interaction with someone other than herself.
"[Is that a problem]?" Pascatte asked when she saw that Khan hesitated.
"[Not at all]," Khan quickly replied as he carefully took the back of Pascatte's hand in his grasp.
Some students gasped when they saw that interaction, and Khan also felt that Pascatte suppressed an instinctive reaction to keep her hand in his grasp. Still, he ignored all of that to perform his task to the best of his capabilities.
"[Summon your mana]," Khan ordered. "[Let me guide it]."
Pascatte made some of her mana seep past her palm, and Khan sent gentle waves of energy to give it a spherical shape and move it across her skin. Pascatte could experience the sensations generated by the exercise like that, and her knowledge would allow her to explain it to her students.
"[Interesting indeed]," Pascatte commented during the exercise.
"[I can continue if you need]," Khan revealed.
"[No, I think I got the gist of it]," Pascatte stated while retracting her hand. "[I need to study it a bit, but it should have the potential to improve a few exercises]."
Pascatte inspected the back of her hand for a second before lowering it and fixing her eyes on Khan to express her thoughts. "[Thank you]."
Khan nodded, and Pascatte kept her eyes on him for a few more seconds before turning to leave the training area. Her action told the students that the lesson was over, so they stood up and glanced at Khan before disappearing among the trees. Some waved at Jenna during the process, and she replied through warm smiles.
Once everyone left, Jenna jumped on Khan and hugged him from behind. He shared Jenna's excitement, so no rebuke let his mouth. He even turned to show his happy face to her.
"[That was great]!" Jenna giggled.
"[She let me touch her]," Khan incredulously stated.
"[I told you]," Jenna continued as she let Khan turn toward her completely before squeezing his neck. "[The others will accept you in no time]."
"[Maybe I can really help you out]," Khan guessed as he didn't shy back from replying to the hug.
"[Are you going all selfless now]?" Jenna teased before heaving a disappointed sigh.
"[What is it]?" Khan asked since he couldn't see Jenna's face.
"[You won't be all mine anymore once the others start to trust you]," Jenna complained.
"[I've never been all yours]," Khan snorted before ending up in a laugh.
"[I need to make the best out of this time together]," Jenna exclaimed while relaxing the hug to show her face to Khan. "[Let's get naked again]."
"[Slow down that naughty mind of yours]," Khan made their foreheads bump softly. "[We'll still be friends. That won't change even after you fall for someone]."
"[You are so good to me]," Jenna sighed. "[Can't we kiss or something]?"
"[You know we can't]," Khan scolded.
"[I know]," Jenna giggled. "[Still, I claim my right to pick your next partner. Don't think that you can go around kissing everyone just because you are a human]."
"[When did you get this right exactly]?" Khan wondered.
"[Let's go]!" Jenna laughed as she seized Khan's hand and began to pull him. "[We have to get naked]."
"[You are impossible]," Khan gave up and followed Jenna through the woods, unaware that a happy smile had taken control of his face.
Gossips spread throughout the settlement as the day went by. Caja's announcement from the previous night, Khan's statement to the young Nele, and the events in the training area created a curious picture that made everyone interested.
Khan clearly had good intentions. Moreover, the Nele's pheromones did not affect him. Jenna had also used her relatively prominent status to add value to Khan's presence by spending time with him.
Meanwhile, Khan and Jenna ended up in the lake again, but the two focused on his training. They still exchanged jokes from time to time, and they were often naughty, but they never crossed the line.
Khan noticed the changes in the general atmosphere as he attended lunch and dinner in the central square. Something was happening in the settlement, but a single day wasn't enough to cause anything significant.
.
"[Good morning]," Jenna exclaimed in a sleepy tone as she stretched her arms before cuddling back on Khan's lap.
"[You should drop this before it turns into a habit]," Khan scolded as he inspected how closely Jenna got to his exposed groin.
"[I'll stop if you sleep with me instead of spending the night training]," Jenna suggested.
Khan studied Jenna's seemingly pure smile before adding something. "[With clothes]."
"[Naked]," Jenna bargained. "[It would be nice if you cuddled me too]."
"[The cuddles only come with the clothes]," Khan uttered.
"[I'll take naked then]," Jenna giggled as she adjusted her position on Khan's lap. "[I know you'll cuddle me anyway]."
"[Why do I even bother trying]?" Khan sighed as he caressed Jenna's head.
"[Don't stop]," Jenna teased. "[It's sweet to see you going all human on me]."
"[I had to choose the most twisted of the Nele as my friend]," Khan cursed.
"[I chose you]," Jenna corrected. "[And, no, you never had the option to reject me]."
"[Someone is getting arrogant]," Khan commented.
"[I'm opening up as I find new things I want to do with you]," Jenna revealed.
Khan didn't answer. He only felt happy that Jenna was having fun and was trusting him enough to show more of herself every day. Still, some concern suddenly appeared in his mind.
"[I'm not keeping you too busy, right]?" Khan asked. "[Don't you have some special tasks outside the settlement]?"
"[The Nele have survived here even before my birth]," Jenna stated. "[I can take some time off. Also, I'm working closely with a potential future ally. That's an important task]."
"[You are giving a hard time to a potential future ally]," Khan mocked while ruffling Jenna's hair.
"[I think the potential future ally is harder than me]," Jenna giggled as she peeked at Khan's groin from behind her messy hair.
Khan shook his head as he pushed Jenna's head back on his lap. Those jokes had no deeper meaning, and they were also becoming the norm when they were alone.
"[I'm more worried about you]," Jenna revealed when she stopped laughing. "[You came here with a group, right? Don't you have to update them about your status]?"
Khan froze when those words awakened thoughts and memories that had remained suppressed under the excitement toward the Nele's arts. He had forgotten something important mentioned on the reports.. His phone had no connection to the network inside that hidden dome.
To be continued