The confidence that Khan radiated left the three Niqols speechless. The monster was drawing near at high speed. They could almost feel the ground under them tremble due to its heavy body slamming on the plain while it charged forward, but Khan appeared completely at ease with his back toward the creature.

The three Niqols were only in the first year, and their battle prowess wasn't great, but they could understand Khan's reasons. The period after the solar wind didn't feature any hunt since the creatures that could mutate had already mutated. Other parts of Nitis had seen monsters in the past months, but that didn't apply to the area under the control of the academy.

Khan didn't have the chance to test the skills developed during that time due to the absence of opponents, and the Niqols didn't usually rely on sparring sessions to improve, which left him basically out of options.

However, a single monster had come out of the mountain chain now. It was the perfect chance for Khan, and it would also benefit the three Niqols since they would get an idea of the creature's power without fighting it themselves. The other mutated Talelos would probably develop different abilities, but their enhanced physical strength should remain a constant, so it wasn't wrong to study it.

"Be careful," Elita said when it became clear that none of them would oppose Khan.

Khan limited himself to nod before turning to shoot ahead. His figure transformed into a shadow that approached the monster at high speed. The creature had covered almost half of the path that divided it from the students, and it didn't slow down at all when it noticed the incoming opponent.

The two drew closer until their clash became imminent, but Khan darted on the left before the skull-like cover could slam on his chest. His body spun as he gathered the entirety of his momentum on his right foot before delivering a strong blow that hit on the monster's neck.

The monster was immense. It was a mass of muscles and fur that was taller than Khan even when standing on its four legs. The Niqols almost believed that the creature would have pushed him away due to the sheer might that its charge carried, but their mouths opened in astonishment when they saw it flying to the right.

The mutated Talelos was as surprised as the Niqols. Khan's timing had been perfect. His kick had landed on the monster when its four legs didn't touch the ground, and the lack of a foothold had made pushing it away easier. However, he still had to release enough power to move that heavy mass of muscles.

The monster continued to shoot forward as it moved to the side. Khan had kicked it away, but it retained the momentum accumulated during its charge, so it flew diagonally before crashing on the ground and rotating to create a long hole. The beast took a while to stop, but Khan was already in front of it by then.

The new position allowed Khan to notice a few details that he had missed from a distance. The skull-like cover resembled a mask made of bones that grew from the creature's forehead and ended past its chin. Those animals probably had issues eating with that tough shield in front of the mouth. The monster also had long curved claws coming out of its four legs, and its fur carried the faint smell of blood.

The creature tried to stand up, but Khan shot toward its neck while raising the first-grade knife to his side. That situation appeared perfect to test the Divine Reaper, so he didn't hesitate to seize it.

Khan deployed a technique that fused his martial arts. He accelerated before stopping right in front of the monster's neck. His ankles rotated, and his whole body followed as he stretched his left arm forward.

Mana gathered on his knife and enveloped it in an azure membrane that carried sharp properties. The speed of the blow was incredible, and the power of Khan's energy fused with the innate features of the weapon to create what seemed to be an unstoppable attack, but the impact with the dark-red fur brought only disappointment.

The knife managed to pierce the monster's thick skin, but only half of the blade seeped into its body. Khan frowned while looking at the scene, but an angry growl soon reached his ears and forced him to focus on the battle.

The monster turned its head and fixed its angry gaze on Khan. He could see its bloodshot eyes from behind the holes in the skull-like cover. The creature seemed in a frenzy, but it still spent one second in that exchange of glances before roaring and swinging its left paw toward him.

'The membrane must have broken before touching its skin,' Khan concluded in his mind before jumping back to dodge the incoming attack.

A trail of blood came out of the monster's neck when the knife left the wound. The weapon had managed to reach decent depths due to its natural enhancements, which only made the creature angrier.

Khan looked at the bloodied knife while he continued to retreat. No mark had appeared on its edges or surface. The failed execution from before didn't damage it at all, and he heaved in relief at that sight.

The magic weapon appeared far more resilient than the null-grade knives, making Khan desire to test his techniques again. His execution had been almost perfect. Now, he only needed to practice until his new abilities became reliable.

The failure in performing his last technique correctly showed him the reason for the sixty-five points assigned to the Divine Reaper when using it alone. The monster would have been able to hit Khan if it weren't for the quick moves of the Lightning-demon style, which would have probably left him badly injured. A single mistake had almost doomed him.

The weakness of the Divine Reaper was evident. It was impossible to use its techniques before reaching the competent proficiency level because a single failed execution could lead to a deadly response. Still, that level of expertise didn't change that an opponent could dodge an attack and seize the same openings.

'It feels so weak on its own, but the army still gave it sixty-five points,' Khan thought as he stopped retreating and inspected the monster standing up. 'Maybe my perception is completely off since I started training with a good martial art right away.'

The monster charged ahead, but Khan reached its side before it could pick up speed. A single kick managed to make it crash on the ground again, which made him prepare the knife in no time.

Khan approached the creature's rear legs at that time. He performed a sprint to reach his target quickly and accumulate momentum, and his whole body rotated to give power to his swinging motion.

The complete absence of obstructions felt during the technique made Khan sure about its perfect execution. His knife had gone smoothly through the monster's leg, but its flesh had yet to show the effects of his attack.

The monster roared in anger again when it noticed Khan standing behind it. The creature quickly tried to straighten its body to turn and squash him, but it fell to the side when its weight moved on the damaged leg.

Khan saw the creature's fur opening into a gory mess and bending in an odd shape. It turned out that he had cut hair, skin, muscles, and femur in a single attack. The monster actually started falling on him since that limb gave up on trying to support its weight.

Khan had to retreat again, but a smile inevitably appeared on his face. He had always known that the Divine Reaper's offensive power was great, but he didn't believe it could reach such insane levels. After all, his opponent was a monster that could endure his kicks, but its innate defenses couldn't do anything against his knife.

'Ninety-five points,' Khan thought while looking at his knife. 'This is simply too great!'

His greatest weakness had disappeared. Khan could finally disregard the stronger bodies that the monsters had. He could even kill them in one blow if he hit the right spot. The only problem was how much he could rely on those abilities.

The scenes that followed left the three Niqols inspecting the scene speechless. The monster couldn't do much now that it couldn't use one of its legs. It crawled as its aggression tried to make it reach its targets, but it wasn't a proper threat anymore, not for Khan at least.

Khan attacked the monsters in different spots. He focused on the other legs first to make sure that the creature couldn't move at all before unleashing a flurry of techniques meant to improve his ability with the Divine Reaper.

The scene appeared quite sadistic. Khan made sure to avoid vital organs with his attacks as he continued to test the Divine Reaper's techniques, and the monster soon ended up in a gory state. Only its incredible resilience managed to keep it alive throughout that treatment, but it directly lay down at some point. The creature only wanted Khan to deliver the final blow, but he never satisfied its desires.

Khan's actions carried no cruelty. The monster had become nothing more than a training dummy in his eyes. He could use it to see how often his techniques failed before a proper opponent and how deeply he could cut it. The [Blood Shield] and Liiza's ice had never given him a proper understanding of the Divine Reaper's power, but he filled those gaps in his knowledge in no time.

"Just kill it!" Edil eventually shouted. "Save your mana!"

Edil's scolding forced Khan to remember about the crisis. He had been too caught in his training that he had almost forgotten about his situation. The canyons on the rocky wall in the distance could release monsters at any time, and he wasn't with his teammates.

'Well, you have stopped being useful for a while already,' Khan thought while looking at the gory figure at his side.

The bear had deep cuts on its four legs. One of them was even on the verge of separating from its base since it hung from a small patch of skin. Similar wounds filled the entirety of the creature's body. Khan had gone all-out with his tests, making sure to understand his current level and in which fields he needed to improve.

'I'm not as precise as I wished,' Khan summarized in his mind, 'And I fail to perform the techniques correctly far too often.'

The membrane covered the knife again as Khan approached the monster's head. The creature didn't even oppose the weapon piercing its skull. It only wanted to die after the awful treatment that Khan had reserved it.

"[Sorry, I've been too caught in it]," Khan shouted while drawing the knife and cleaning the blood on the monster's fur.

"We noticed!" Khakhir mocked, and his comment made everyone laugh.

Khan began to walk back to his companions, but he suddenly sensed multiple presences gathering near the canyons. Many skull-like covers soon peeked out of the exits as his eyes remained fixed on those spots. There seemed to be ten monsters ready to get out of the mountains, and some of them even showed signs of special abilities.

Khan didn't hesitate to shoot back to his companions before turning to face the mountain chain. His knife stood in front of him as he bent his legs and prepared for the imminent battle.

The three Niqols did the same, but Khan almost sensed their hesitation. Still, that feeling didn't come from their inexperience or weak battle prowess. He couldn't blame them when he was experiencing similar feelings.

The new monsters appeared far calmer than the first. The ten creatures were all mutated versions of the Talelos, but the transformations had affected them differently. Their furs carried various colors, and their skull-like masks also had different shapes. However, two of them stood out among the group.

Those two monsters were bigger than their companions. One of them had flames burning on its pale-red fur while the other released a dark gas from under its mask. It was clear that they had developed abilities.

****

Author's notes: 3-4 hours for the second chapter.