Chaos' Heir

Khan's sense of self almost shattered right away. His mental capacity had expanded since his first training session, but the distant echoes about the Nak were too vast and heavy. They encompassed immense knowledge and countless conclusions, instantly surpassing his brain's limits.

Khan's eyes became bloodshot as he forced them to remain open and fixed on the holographic tattoo. He forgot what he was doing, where, and why, but the bright picture worked as an anchor that prevented him from completely losing himself to the sensations flooding his brain.

Meanwhile, those sensations shifted Khan's perception, transforming his reality and point of view, immersing him into something foreign and profoundly alien, even for his brain.

Khan wasn't Khan anymore. He was a proud and mighty creature, biding his time inside a cozy membrane at the bottom of a boundless sea. His consciousness was a fragmented mess of thousands of different perspectives, and torrents of information flooded him at an unfathomable rate.

Some sensations were stronger than others. Khan felt large items bloating his throat and body while his digestive system dismantled them. The taste of his fellow specimens' flesh and blood still lingered in his mouth, but he felt nothing but disdain and a sense of superiority.

Khan had always been the weakest of the bunch, the smallest child of his species. His innate abilities were limited, preventing him from standing his ground against his superior brothers and sisters.

However, fate awarded Khan his awaited revenge. His superior brothers and sisters had gone mad with ambition after obtaining their new, mystical abilities, failing to harness their true power while killing each other during planetary wars. Their inborn might had been their doom since it had blinded them to the concept of weakness.

Meanwhile, Khan knew weakness very well, and that had taught him wisdom, as well as the true nature of power. Might came in different shapes, and patience was one of them. He didn't let his new abilities fool him but instead studied them carefully, uncovering their dreadful secret.

The energy those tiny blue creatures had released during their invasion was powerful but incomplete. It lacked a key, a final piece that could unlock its true potential, pushing it past merely wielding it as a weapon.

The infection had to be accepted, fused, and evolved. Still, Khan couldn't do that without the Nak, and attempting the transformation with his current weakness might make him lose his mind, just like it happened with his brothers and sisters.

Khan needed a stronger starting point, a stabler foundation that would put him on top of the mana after the transformation instead of making him subservient to it. Luckily, his brothers and sisters had died, and their bodies could serve to empower him to his rightful place.

Nevertheless, devouring the other planetary overlords and assimilating the mana was only the first step. Khan still needed to find the Nak, so he split his perception, fusing it with his new energy before sending it throughout the universe.

The mana was indeed helpful. It could capture all kinds of information while flying through the universe on its own. Moreover, Khan could instantly learn about it due to the shared perception, studying countless things simultaneously without moving from his cozy membrane.

Of course, that incredible ability came at a price. Khan struggled to process that insane amount of information, so the absorption locked him on his planet. His body couldn't move, but his mind was free to roam to the distant reaches of the universe, searching for his owed key.

Most of the information gathered was incredible but useless to Khan's main goal. Those tiny blue creatures, those Nak, were quite hard to track, mainly because they seemed to spread their energy randomly and recklessly.

The Nak didn't seem to have any clear pattern to their invasions, so Khan could find countless clues about their passage everywhere. They were expanding but not with the purpose of conquest. They only wanted to spread the mana, even if the effort demanded their lives.

Khan quickly realized that chasing after the Nak would be impossible and pointless. Even if he started flying at them now, they'd be too far away to reach or directly dead. Instead, he had to go backward, following their source to find their home.

The mana seemed to approve and help with that idea. Khan didn't let it affect his mind but sensed how that energy wanted to return to its source. Actually, it wanted him to go to its source to retrieve something.

Khan wouldn't let that puny infection compel him. He would find the Nak on his own terms and complete the transformation to dominate the mana, not serve it. However, that required more information, as well as time to gather it.

Years, decades, and centuries passed while studying the universe. Khan never moved, but his mind kept absorbing and analyzing data, learning all kinds of details. His consciousness invaded every planet affected by the Nak while also searching for where they came from. Their home felt distant, but his research never stopped.

Eventually, even tinier and weaker creatures reached that part of the universe, but Khan mostly ignored them. They were so puny that he struggled to see them as anything but cattle. Yet, he soon found some use for them.

As annoying and demeaning as it was, Khan had to accept that even his incredible new powers couldn't reach the Nak's home. That place was too distant, and the traces grew scarcer as his senses approached it. Letting the mana into his mind could help, but he wasn't willing to accept that defeat.

So, Khan started interacting with the tinier creatures, occasionally affecting their judgment to push them where his perception couldn't reach.

The project was beyond easy. Those newcomers were so puny that Khan barely needed to use his immense knowledge to earn their favor. Some were even willing to die for him, and he wouldn't refuse such offers. He was a god among cattle, but the latter worked slowly, too slowly for his tastes.

The puny newcomers were truly weak. They couldn't push themselves as far as Khan wished and come back to share the tale. They were limited tools with limited powers, but Khan had time, might, and patience, and his transformation still needed some work.

Nevertheless, Khan eventually spotted an exception among that species of puny creatures. Actually, that being looked for him, and he didn't hesitate to offer him an invitation to his planet.