Chaos' Heir

Refilling the physical energy reserves brought massive improvements to the mental training. Khan felt sharper, stronger, and more resilient, absorbing light memory after light memory without requiring anything close to the previous breaks.

Usually, Khan would have needed to sleep between the training sessions. His mental resilience had improved, but those breaks remained necessary.

However, after Khan filled himself to the brim, he could endure up to three cycles of memory absorption before needing that ultimate break.

Needless to say, Khan's exploration of foreign memories picked up speed, and he never shied away from abusing his newfound limits. His sense of fulfillment also lasted longer than he expected, allowing him to go for days on end without experiencing any hunger.

That sense of fulfillment was also several times better than the hunger when it came to remaining grounded in reality. The mental training didn't get any less torturous, but Khan did improve an aspect that worsened it.

Two weeks passed in a blink during Khan's full immersion in his new state and the foreign memories. He made steady progress, but nothing revolutionary just yet. The main development actually happened outside his flat, and Garret didn't forget to notify him about it.

Garret visited Khan personally, knocking on his door to highlight the important event. The scientist luckily found Khan available, and the latter received him before following him through the space station.

On the outside, Khan's appearance was slightly better. The full immersion in the foreign memories had made the eyebags return, but his glowing eyes showed no trace of that exhaustion. His sickish complexion didn't reappear, either, which reassured the scientist.

Yet, on the inside, Khan was quite tired. As incredible as his resilience was, even his new body had limits, especially mental ones. His physical endurance had received the greatest benefits, but he still needed to take better care of his brain.

Garret led Khan into a hangar that had a ship ready for takeoff. The ride was small and simple, with no special attachments or purposes, and the two quickly hopped on it to let the pilot drive them outside the mana barrier.

The scientist delayed the explanations, but Khan could already see much from the ship's scanners. Only one screen stood in the cargo area, but that was enough to show the destination and its nature.

Nott Station had structural limits that the best technology in the world couldn't ignore. Only a radical dismantling and rebuilding of some of the structure's areas would solve that, but Captain Lochport wasn't willing to approve those changes. So, the Nognes forces built outside it.

A black, cubical structure expanded on the screen, getting closer as the ship approached it. The building stood right outside the space station, so the vehicle reached it in no time and connected itself to the metal bridge that stretched from that metal surface.

The ship's doors opened into the bridge, allowing Khan and Garret to cross it. The two soon arrived before the metal surface, which Garret unlocked with a few quick commands. The wall slid open, revealing the vast empty area previously hidden by its entrance.

Khan only needed a look to recognize what the structure was. Garret had already updated him on that, but he was familiar enough with those types of areas to understand their nature at a glance.

One of Khan's main directives involved the creation of a suitable training hall. Nott Station couldn't hold anything like that, and Khan's proclivity to break them would put all the crews in danger, so Garret could only decide to build the structure outside.

"It doesn't have the best specs, My Prince," Garret announced, crossing the entrance to step into the structure, "But it should serve you better than state-of-the-art training halls."

Artificial illumination lit up all around its walls and ceiling, highlighting its spacious insides. The place was completely empty, but Khan mostly examined its overall resilience. He followed Garret inside, and his glowing eyes inspected every corner of the place, conveying the entropy it carried.

The training hall was by no means brittle, but Khan had seen better. However, he also spotted some differences. The reinforced surfaces often managed to fend off his senses, but he felt able to pierce them now, noticing their many layers.

"In your current state," Garret continued, casually walking inside the empty place, "No human structure can contain you. You have already proven yourself able to break through the most resilient reinforced alloys, so teleporting them here would have been a waste of money."

Garret nailed Khan's problems. That was one of the reasons he had started training in remote open areas on Baoway. Nothing could survive Khan, so he placed himself where he couldn't break anything of value.

"What's different with this one?" Khan asked.

"It's easy to fix, My Prince," Garret announced, stiffly turning toward Khan. "Each layer and surface comprises replaceable, small, and relatively cheap pieces. We have already stored many of those in Nott Station, but more are coming."

"What about the engines?" Khan wondered.

"No engines, My Prince," Garret revealed. "This structure doesn't have great mobility but can still float through space with small thrusters. It's old and cheap technology, and we already have a good storage of those, too."

"But I do sense a big tank of synthetic mana," Khan pointed out. "Is it only for the training hall's functions?"

"That's for the mana barrier, My Prince," Garret explained. "We can't have you get thrust into space if and when you breach the hull."

"You can remove that," Khan revealed. "I'm guessing that's the only piece that's hard to replace, right?"

"You are correct, My Prince," Garret confirmed. "However, it's too dangerous to remove those safety measures. As strong as you are, space remains stronger."

"I think I closed the gap quite a bit," Khan stated, diverting his gaze to pretend to study the training hall again. "It seems I can endure space better now. No matter how far I get thrown off, I should have more than enough time to fly back."

"I …," Garret muttered, sighing as he straightened his already straight stance. "I guessed as much."

Khan looked at Garret again, knowing the scientist was up to something, and the latter didn't wait for additional questions to explain himself. "I have the results from your check-up. My Prince, we have to talk."