Chaos Heir

Chapter 1150 Precautions

The elevator brought Khan directly to his quarters. He had a whole floor at his disposal, and a pleasant scent welcomed his arrival in one of the main halls.

Khan ignored his bloody state to approach the copious banquet. His soldiers had filled the hall with piles of food that could sate entire squads, but he only wondered how many minutes it would take him to finish it all on his own.

Of course, more important thoughts rose in Khan's mind as he sat down to eat. The past two months on Coravis had passed in a blink, but he had achieved a lot during that period. Most activities had tackled perfecting details rather than bringing significant changes, but a few of those had arrived nonetheless.

Being on an actual planet had removed all of Khan's limitations. He could test his physical transformation without fearing breaking anything, finalizing what he had started in Nott Station's training hall.

Adjusting martial arts to new innate abilities and physical prowess wasn't an easy or quick process. However, Khan had never stopped exploring foreign memories, and the workout greatly helped with that.

The new abilities grew more instinctive by the day until Khan couldn't tell the difference from his previous state anymore. He became one with his body, shortening the time required to adjust his martial arts to his improved state.

That created more time for another practice Coravis had unlocked. The natural symphony allowed Khan to resume his long training sessions with the improved [Blood Vortex], which he never hesitated to abuse.

Khan's new body also brought changes to the [Blood Vortex]. His abnormal absorption pace didn't only apply to food. Even the mana channeled through the alien technique fell into that category, shortening the necessary breaks between each training session.

Nevertheless, that benefit came at a price. Khan needed far less time to absorb the mana accumulated through the [Blood Vortex] but also required far more of that energy to improve his attunement. He had predicted a similar development, but things ended up being worse than he thought.

After two months of restless training, Khan only managed to push his attunement with mana to eighty-five points. All things considered, that achievement remained incredible but ruined some of his plans.

Khan had found the foreign memories that concerned the Nak. He had even given those vague directions to Garret, which matched his findings in Chuwei. Khan had a relatively clear path toward his goal, but some details remained uncertain.

The scarlet eyes' threat was very real and impending, but Khan didn't know by how much. The unclear timeline about that imminent attack gnawed at his brain, compelling him to hurry to complete his main goal of finding the Nak.

However, Khan only sensed the general direction of the foreign memories. He hadn't explored them yet, and whether his mind was ready to tackle them was unclear. Khan had dealt with all the lighter echoes in those two months, but there were still heavier ones that could provide a safer path toward that destination.

That created another problem. Walking the safe path would be wise since Khan's sense of self was at stake. Yet, the more he trained, the stronger he became, worsening the consequences of an eventual failure.

Khan had warned and coordinated with Garret to prepare for the threat. The scientist had found a suitable location and had brought the peak of the Nognes family's weaponry to Coravis.

Humankind couldn't quite blow up planets yet, but its weapons remained fearsome. Khan had seen their power on Lauter, and the Nognes family was bound to have even mightier tools of mass destruction.

Still, the Great Old One was as strong as a planet, and Khan had killed it. Moreover, his element made technology unreliable. He didn't know whether his forces could take him down if he lost his sense of self, especially if he became stronger.

That forced Khan to make a difficult decision. The slower but safer path promised fewer dangers for himself and his surroundings, but the odds remained terrible.

Meanwhile, the quicker but reckless path was beyond dangerous but would improve Khan's forces' odds of dealing with the worst-case scenario. They might still be able to kill him now, but that wasn't so likely if he kept training.

Of course, Khan had considered stopping any kind of training to focus solely on the foreign memories, keeping him as weak as possible while improving his mental fortitude.

Yet, the foreign memories still strengthened Khan. Adjusting his martial arts to his new abilities had proven as much. Absorbing more of those instincts might empower whatever he would become if he lost his sense of self, removing any hope for a middle ground.

Khan obviously preferred to put himself at risk over his forces. He could lose his sense of self anyway, but the second option would leave someone alive who could continue his work. Khan might die, but his organization would know about the scarlet eyes and do its best to finish his mission.

Those and more troubling thoughts filled Khan's brain during his lonely banquet, preventing him from enjoying the food. He almost failed to notice when he emptied the last plate, but his body reacted on its own, standing up from the vast table.

Stopping due to problems had never been Khan's style, and the recent period had been nothing short of an endless series of training sessions. For once, his stamina even kept up with his insane schedules, and his current lack of injuries proved as much.

Blood still stained Khan's skin and clothes, but all the injuries that had released it had closed during the banquet. He had barely spent half an hour eating, but the [Blood Vortex]'s wounds had healed without leaving a single mark behind.

Khan didn't even consider that point. It had become the norm weeks ago, so he left the hall to head for another area. The floor had many rooms and useful environments, and one was bound to feature new equipment.

Khan crossed a few corridors before entering a reinforced room. Scanners and other scientific tools hung from the walls or around interactive desks, but Khan ignored them to reach the new item at the bottom of the area.

Garret's scientific team had delivered an item Khan had waited for a while but had decided to delay until recently. A chunk of the Great Old One's flesh stood at the center of an interactive platform, with buckets of dark blue blood encircling it.

The flesh and blood still leaked mana, adding it to the artificial symphony and vouching for their value. Khan had never had better tools for the [Blood Shield], and something told him he could improve the alien technique several times with them.