Chuwei was a sandy, desolate, and uninhabited planet, at least on paper. Endless deserts stretched in every direction, covering its whole surface. Moreover, violent storms often afflicted it, preventing any trace of life from appearing in that terrible environnt.
However, Khan learned that one of Lord Vegner’s business partners had obtained a Nak-related item from Chuwei, putting the planet in his target. Actually, the matter was far more convoluted than that, but Khan felt like exploring it anyway. Experience new stories on .Côm
Lord Vegner’s business partner never actually stepped on Chuwei. According to him, he had purchased the Nak-related item from a buyer who claid to have found it on Chuwei.
That story left room for many variables, but the business partner had promised Khan the buyer had no reason to lie to him. As for the latter’s identity, even the forr didn’t know whether he was a pirate, a simple traveler, or a straight-up criminal.
Ideally, Khan would have pursued the buyer directly, but the business partner had lost any connection with him long ago, which wasn’t surprising. People who traveled and made their living in those areas generally had short lives, reinforcing the idea that the man was a pirate or a criminal.
That was what convinced Khan to venture to Chuwei. On paper, the planet had nothing valuable. The terrible weather also made it unsuitable for secret bases for criminal groups. If the story was true, the buyer must have stumbled on the item by mistake, marking it as a hidden treasure trove.
A treasure trove Khan could find thanks to his unique abilities.
The shield kept the sandstorm away and the ship safe, but Khan almost forgot about it when he stepped outside. The grinding winds hit him before he could touch the ground, attempting to tear his clothes apart. Still, sothing far more compelling claid his attention, diverting it from the dangerous situation.
’Found it,’ Khan thought when a familiar, intense sensation hit the back of his neck. The alien organ inside his nape knew he was in the right place. He felt the Nak’s call, the sa call he had heard on Milia 222 and Cegnore.
In hindsight, the discovery wasn’t too surprising. Khan had cross-referenced tons of information from different sources and species before picking Chuwei as his target. The planet stood where he believed the Nak had flown in the past, and other details reinforced that connection.
According to old and obscure reports, Chuwei’s terrible weather and environnt were unnatural. The consensus was that a catastrophic event had caused that apocalyptic landscape. Still, no scientist ever bothered to investigate further since Chuwei was useless from every perspective.
Yet, standing on its sandy ground, Khan could co to a straightforward conclusion. The Nak could have very well been that catastrophic event and their remains were probably hidden under those sandstorms and deserts.
The sandstorm forced Khan to keep his eyes closed, but his aura eventually surged, and the world seed to freeze for a second. Those grinding winds stopped hitting him, and their deafening whooshing noises grew distant.
Khan opened his eyes to see a vast area around him devoid of any sand. Even the ground under his bare feet had lost many layers of it. His aura had crushed that grinding soil into nothingness, removing most of the winds’ danger.
The visibility didn’t improve much, but Khan didn’t mind it. He closed the ship, sealing it and shielding its most vulnerable parts before setting off, following the call raging in his nape.
The sandstorm stretched in every direction for many kiloters, so Khan couldn’t get out of it quickly and didn’t even try to. The safe area of destroyed sand followed him wherever he went, but he focused on finding the call’s source.
That had always been problematic, and Khan’s heightened senses didn’t make it any easier. The Nak’s call was mysterious and directionless, mostly acting on various intensity levels. Khan could instinctively walk toward its source, but the process would inevitably be slow.
Luckily, Khan wasn’t in a hurry. That was his first real lead since the beginning of the trip, but it was also a necessary break from daily life on the ship. He could finally stretch his legs and breathe real, natural air, which all his senses desperately sought.
The natural environnt also provided another advantage. Khan flew for a while before returning to the surface and sitting cross-legged on the sand. His aura still protected him from the storm, giving him all the ti to draw a rune with his mind.
Khan had improved at avoiding using his hands to draw runes, but the [Blood Vortex] was quite big and complicated. Creating it took him a while, but those opportunities were rare during the trip, so he seized the chance to train.
The sa went for what followed. More of the sandstorm broke under the [Blood Vortex]’s destructive influence. Its violent winds beca power for the rune, which it absorbed to send energy to Khan’s body. Regular training didn’t do much for him, so he planned to fill himself to the brim while on an actual planet.
Khan’s training sessions didn’t get any shorter or less painful during those months. Actually, the more his attunent level increased, the deeper his limits beca, prolonging his abuse of the [Blood Vortex] past the previous iterations.
That ant more injuries caused by friction force, but Khan didn’t care. The pain was fine. It had almost beco comfortable after being mostly alone for six months.
Chuwei had longer days than average, but Khan’s training session lasted through and past the night. He stopped after a new morning had arrived, and his eyes opened to gaze at a different environnt.
The sandstorm had quieted down. Most of it had moved to a different quadrant, while the [Blood Vortex] had handled the rest. Khan’s training sessions could affect the weather now, but he didn’t linger in those thoughts.
Instead, Khan studied the now calm landscape. Dunes of various sizes stretched as far as eyes could see, and a scorching heat afflicted the air. The yellow sand acted as a partial mirror, reflecting Chuwei’s star’s rays and intensifying its deadly environnt.
Khan’s feet burned under the scorching sand, but the air was no better. His nostrils were on fire, and the sa went for the silver crown on his head. The thick cape on his shoulders made him sweat, but he didn’t remove it.
Only the Nak’s call was worthy of Khan’s attention, and his feet eventually moved, propelling him toward a seemingly random direction.
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