Chaos' Heir

917  Semen

The meeting with Lionel Hencus marked the end of the troublesome task. Those warnings were Khan's last attempt to retain peace. Everything else would be up to his allies' families, and eventual problems would force him to unleash more than words.

Nevertheless, only time would tell what the future had in store. Khan could only wait for now, and the additional free time made room for the usual preparations. He resumed focusing on his training while his relatives handled the tournament's effects, allowing him to finalize one peculiar trend.

'Still eighty percent,' Khan read on the report beside his bed. 'It truly stabilized.'

The report obviously was about the latest training session with the toxic pool. Khan had stuffed three more of those in the past two weeks, leading to an additional downfall in his attunement level. However, as his scientists had predicted, the trend seemed to have stopped at eighty points.

'It's just one session without decrease,' Khan eventually thought. 'It's too early to draw conclusions.'

Khan remained uncertain, but the additional data on the report backed up Abraham and Garret's opinion. The session's damage had decreased, while Khan's recovery period had shortened. His increased tolerance to the toxic substance could partially explain that trend, but the process' completion was the most popular theory.

'Completion to what?' Khan wondered, ripping off the various bandages on him to check his state. No injury afflicted him, and he felt stronger than ever, but he couldn't spot anything unusual or drastically different.

Khan didn't let that dishearten him. Truth be told, most of his training sessions had similar outcomes. Also, he was often blind to certain changes, forcing him to rely on Monica or his closest allies to spot them.

Nevertheless, the decreasing attunement trend's end created a new problem. The procedure was highly experimental, and Khan had jumped blindly into it. He didn't know where it would lead nor how to proceed to the next phase.

'If my attunement with mana truly stopped dropping,' Khan thought, 'Does it mean that the transformation is complete?'

Khan didn't believe that for a second. The evolution was supposed to bring monumental changes even as a fourth-level warrior. Many would claim he already wielded enough power to consider himself at that stage, but he knew most of it came from his expertise.

'Garret would have written something here,' Khan concluded, scrolling through the report. 'I'm not there yet.'

The procedure's still-ongoing nature didn't answer Khan's questions. Theoretically, the end of the descending trend should make room for an increase in the attunement with mana. Yet, even with Khan's diligent training, nothing similar had happened.

18:23 n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The issue could have two opposite explanations. Either Khan's body still used that energy to transform, or the toxic pool had started eliminating any progress he made between training sessions.

The data seemed to favor the first hypothesis, but Khan could easily see the second unfolding, especially if he started abusing it. Spotting that trend would also be difficult since he was in uncharted territory, potentially slowing down his training.

'Am I being too greedy?' Khan wondered. 'Should I just take my time and accept eventual bumps?'

Khan was in a hurry for a variety of reasons. The scarlet eyes remained a looming threat with an unknown timeline, and growing stronger as quickly as possible would add fuel to his fame. Still, patience seemed to be necessary in that procedure. His scientists also advised it.

'What's the worst-case scenario?' Khan thought. 'Losing half a year of training? I bet Abraham and Garret would notice things far earlier than that even.'

Khan's estimate took into consideration the time his body would need to develop complete immunity to the toxic substance. He couldn't be sure, but things were already improving, and the process was bound to pick up speed.

All in all, six months without attunement growth wasn't the end of the world. Khan should be an exception, but almost everyone in his position would suffer similar setbacks. Moreover, his scientists were bound to have better answers in the meantime.

'Immunity, huh,' Khan thought, inspecting his hand. 'That would send me back to regular training. Well, my version of regular, at least.'

Khan remained immersed in his thoughts until the medical bay's door opened. Monica stormed in, stomping her feet once she noticed he was okay. She quickly reached the bed, delivering a jab to his chest before crossing her arms.

"What did I do now?" Khan chuckled, his bright eyes studying Monica's mana. He knew she wasn't pissed about the training session, and the real reason eventually became evident.

"How can you be mad about that?" Khan shook his head, reaching for Monica to pull her onto the bed. "You said it yourself. It would have taken a while for the effects to wear off."

Monica pretended to oppose the pull but still ended up between Khan's legs. Her arms remained crossed while she leaned on his chest, occasionally snorting to highlight her annoyed mood.

"You are literally a super-human," Monica complained. "You are even training non-stop. Shouldn't you have developed super semen by now?"

"Super what?" Khan laughed. "Is that even a thing?"

"I don't know!" Monica cursed. "Make it a thing! We have been trying to conceive for two weeks, and still nothing."

"Have we been trying?" Khan asked. He knew what he had been up to with Monica in the past weeks, but the two had never openly discussed it.

Monica didn't reply and avoided Khan's attempts to look at her eyes. Still, her efforts failed when Khan pushed her down, nimbly climbing on top of her.

"Didn't we agree on doing that after I returned from Senerth?" Khan reminded, pressing Monica's arms on the mattress while inspecting her expression.

"You weren't complaining, so," Monica muttered, diverting her gaze. "You can't blame me for seizing all the chances I see."

Khan chuckled, lowering his head to poke Monica's cheek with his nose. She initially ignored the gesture but eventually turned to look at him.

"I don't know about your super semen theory," Khan announced.

"I won't hear the end of it, will I?" Monica pouted.

"But," Khan continued. "I basically belong to a different species. Difficulties should be the norm."

Those words seemed to get through to Monica. Her pout melted, but some disappointment remained. Her arms were trapped, so she used her legs to cling to Khan and bring him closer.

"Besides," Khan continued. "You just interrupted the birth control, and we don't know the actual effects of my training. It might mess me up down there."

"I only see benefits," Monica pointed out, moving her waist to make Khan aware of her presence and his state.

Khan shot a knowing look at Monica, and she replied with a sly smile. The two were about to kiss, but the medical bay's door opened again, interrupting what would have been an unstoppable escalation.

"What?" Khan asked, cursing while glancing at the medical bay's entrance. He knew who had come in, and annoyance surged since that wasn't the first time. Prince Thomas had to consider himself lucky Khan was the only one naked now.

"My Prince," Prince Thomas called, unfazed by the intimate situation in which he had found Khan and Monica. "Your presence is required."

"I'm busy," Khan responded, and Monica wore a smug look, happy to be his priority.

"It's about the other Nognes factions," Prince Thomas explained. "The Excellencies are here."

Monica's expression went from smug to serious. She looked at Khan, noticing that coldness had invaded his face. She knew the tables had turned, and getting naked wouldn't fix it. It could, but she couldn't ask that from Khan.

Khan let go of Monica's arms, leaving the bed to check his phone. He didn't receive any warning from the involved parties, revealing the sudden nature of the visit. The other faction leaders had moved silently on purpose, aiming to catch Khan by surprise.

'Still pretending to have a shred of control,' Khan cursed in his mind.

Keeping the visit a secret had multiple purposes. First, the other Nognes factions didn't want to risk exposing their movements or increasing Khan's fame. Every noble would reevaluate Khan's authority if people learned that he could summon his family Excellencies at will.

Also, the lack of warnings or previous agreements created the illusion of control. The Excellencies could set the place and meeting's terms, pretending to have the jump on Khan. They would be the ones summoning him, not the other way around.

"Where is here?" Khan questioned.

"In orbit," Prince Thomas explained, unaffected by Khan's naked state. "They arrived in a peculiar vehicle which should have enough space for a suitable meeting."

"Peculiar how?" Khan asked, accepting the clothes that fell in his hands. Monica had left the bed in the meantime, delivering what he needed to depart as soon as possible.

"Reinforced," Prince Thomas revealed, "Shielded from scanners. Less fancy than someone would expect from people of their status."

"They called the big guns," Khan scoffed. "They must have quite the team of evolved warriors waiting for me."

"My Prince," Prince Thomas called, "You have no obligation to fly to them directly. We can buy time and contact them from the surface."

"No need," Khan stated, finishing dressing up while Monica placed the bone crown on his head. "I want their opinion on something anyway."