“A broken shoulder, a shattered jaw, a pierced eardrum, a few cracked ribs, and other minor injuries,” Lieutenant Dyester read on his phone while Khan prepared the holograms for his usual training. “They will be out for two entire weeks even if Doctor Parket personally oversees their recovery.”

“They seemed desperate,” Khan commented. “I don’t want to say good things about them, but they shouldn’t be so stupid to attack me after three months of training.”

Lieutenant Dyester stepped off the wall and neared Khan to inspect his injuries. The lotions had done a great job on the scarred skin, but he still had a few marks on his face.

The injuries caused by his sprint couldn’t heal in a single day, even with the great lotions of the Global Army. Khan had to attend the morning lessons in that state, with a constant annoying feeling spreading from his feet. Luckily for him, his friends didn’t investigate further after he justified the marks with his training.

“Did you watch the battle?” Khan asked after Lieutenant Dyester let him go. “How did I do?”

“You were awful,” Lieutenant Dyester snorted as he picked his phone and activated holograms depicting Khan’s battle. “You have studied it. How many mistakes did you find?”

“Three,” Khan honestly replied. “The front kick against Bloke and the jumping knee come from my bad habits while letting Samuel hang on me was pure inexperience.”

“What about the initial jump?” Lieutenant Dyester asked. “Why did you lower your leg both times? You have practiced techniques in that stance. Why didn’t you flow into them?”

“I didn’t think about it,” Khan said while scratching his head. “These moves still don’t feel completely natural. I kept thinking during the fight.”

Lieutenant Dyester heaved a helpless sigh. He inspected the video again and played with the holograms a bit before lighting a cigarette. There seemed to be some annoyance on his face, but Khan couldn’t understand the reason behind that feeling.

“You can’t limit yourself to the exercises anymore,” Lieutenant Dyester sighed again. “It seems that someone is trying to get to you.”

Khan showed a confused expression, and Lieutenant Dyester didn’t hesitate to continue. “Those boys didn’t fear breaking the curfew. They only cared about forcing you to break it. They were even quite determined. Their reasons probably had nothing to do with you.”

“Why would they even attack me then?” Khan asked.

“Did you make anyone with some really good background angry?” Lieutenant Dyester questioned Khan.

“I’m as good as they come,” Khan said while wearing a fake smile, but a memory suddenly surged in his mind. “I might have insulted Alison Blackdell and her friends, but that wasn’t much. I wouldn’t even recall her name if she weren’t at the center of the gossips.”

Lieutenant Dyester stared at Khan with a blank expression. The latter even waved his hand on his face since the soldier didn’t seem able to move anymore.

“What did they even put in that brain of yours?!” Lieutenant Dyester eventually shouted while grabbing Khan from his shoulders. “The Blackdell family has connections with the noble families, and you decided to insult one of its members! She even failed to remain in the special class! I bet she will get back at anyone who dares to speak badly about her.”

“How can anyone remember stuff from months ago?” Khan complained while Lieutenant Dyester continued to shake him. “You are exaggerating. No one has so much free time.”

“She is a kid born in a family with connections with the noble families!” Lieutenant repeated while letting go of Khan and walking through the corridor that divided the cells. “She has never faced a problem in her entire life! What do you think will happen when she suddenly finds issues that her name can’t solve?”

“Work hard to improve herself?” Khan asked, but Lieutenant Dyester’s face told him that he was wrong.

“Do you think that honest excuses will calm her down?” Khan asked when he understood that the situation was quite bad.

Lieutenant Dyester sighed before massaging his temples. He didn’t know what to say in that situation. His disciple wasn’t stupid, but he had yet to realize how the wealthy kids reacted to some interactions.

“You will only worsen your situation,” Lieutenant Dyester shook his head. “She doesn’t seem the type to let go of this stuff, especially in her state. I can only prepare you for the worst.”

“Worse?” Khan didn’t understand what Lieutenant Dyester meant, but the latter suddenly shot forward.

Khan couldn’t even react to that sudden event. Pain spread from his chest while his feet left the ground. The attack directly flung him toward the wall.

Khan hit his back and head on the wall. Everything became confused for an instant while he fell on the floor. His vision quickly regained its focus and allowed him to see that Lieutenant Dyester’s foot was about to reach his face.

Khan instinctively closed his eyes to prepare for the imminent blow, but nothing touched his face. Instead, a low noise resounded from above him, and tremors reached his back.

“You had it too easy with those boys,” Lieutenant Dyester said as he kicked the table next to the staircase away to create some space. “It’s easy to fight against weaker opponents. Let’s see what you can do against me.”

The situation had turned upside-down in an instant. Khan was barely keeping track of the events, but everything became clear when Lieutenant Dyester bent his legs and took a battle stance.

Khan stood up slowly. His hand went on the back of his head, and a warm sensation spread from his palm. He was bleeding, but Lieutenant Dyester didn’t seem to care about that.

“I don’t think the other kids train like this,” Khan exclaimed.

“The other kids don’t have to worry about being ambushed at night,” Lieutenant Dyester snorted. “Besides, this will teach you how real battles are. The martial arts try to make them appear flashy and precise, but they are messy most of the time.”

“Can I use mana?” Khan asked while taking a battle stance.

“Of course,” Lieutenant Dyester replied as a smirk appeared on his face.

Khan took a deep breath and summoned the mana in his body. He couldn’t match Lieutenant Dyester’s physical strength, but he might be able to achieve a similar speed since his martial art focused on that feature.

However, right after part of the mana inside his body started to activate, a sharp pain spread from Khan’s waist and forced him to open his eyes. His back landed on the wall again as he stared at the kick that Lieutenant Dyester had delivered.

“First lesson,” Lieutenant Dyester announced while turning and lighting another cigarette. “Never use something unreliable. I’m faster than your mana, so you can’t rely on it.”

‘It was a trick!’ Khan shouted in his mind before resuming a battle stance.

“Second lesson,” Lieutenant Dyester continued while turning and delivering a fast roundhouse kick that slammed next to Khan’s head. “Study your opponent. I’m a third-level warrior and mage, while your attunement with mana has yet to reach fifty percent. Why are you even trying to fight me?”

Khan stared at the leg next to his face. Lieutenant Dyester didn’t bother to lower it, and Khan could notice the bulging muscles under the uniform at that distance.

Lieutenant Dyester’s physique was quite massive. His uniform hid part of his muscles, but Khan understood how much power his body contained in that situation.

‘How can he be so fast with that body?’ Khan wondered as he gulped and glanced at the trapdoor.

“That should have been your first thought!” Lieutenant Dyester shouted when he noticed that gesture. “You shouldn’t feel safe because I’m here. Remember that I’ve killed many aliens and even a few humans. You are locked in the same room with a murderer. You should never lower your guard.”

“Who can I trust then?” Khan asked as his face abandoned every expression.

“Trust your senses,” Lieutenant Dyester replied. “Trust your training, your body, your mana, and your achievements. Your situation is different from the other kids. No one would bother to look for your corpse if you were to die somewhere problematic.”

Khan was using the mastery over the fourth lesson of the mental training to hide the mana flowing through his body. He filled his ankles with that energy before moving part of it in different directions.

“How can I even trust you to trai-,” Khan began to say, but his leg moved while Lieutenant Dyester was busy listening to his words.

Khan launched a frontal kick that aimed at Lieutenant Dyester’s groin. His attack was quick. His leg almost created afterimages as it moved toward the soldier.

However, Lieutenant Dyester grabbed his ankle before it could reach its target.

“Masking your emotions was a smart choice,” Lieutenant Dyester explained, “But you can’t hide your intentions to my senses, especially since you only mastered the initial exercises.”

Lieutenant Dyester pulled Khan’s leg and forced him to fall on the floor.

“We’ll do this once a week,” Lieutenant Dyester announced. “The next times won’t be complete beatdowns. I’ll give you the chance to use a few moves in battle.”