Hanan

Pei Geduo focused on the world before him, recording the day's observations in his diary as the fountain pen scratched across the soft paper. Though life in the military camp remained as dull as ever, much like this monotonous land, there was nothing much to complain about.

Under the dim lamplight, he gently rubbed his eyes, set down his pen, and closed the notebook.

This was his three hundred and forty-first day serving at the fortress. In another twenty-four days, he would have been here for a full year. Unlike those volunteers, he was a true military Wizard, currently holding the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Staring at the black crow-shaped mask hanging on the wall, Pei Geduo recalled the day he had received his transfer orders. Truth be told, he had never imagined he would be stationed in such a desolate place. Born in the western province, adapting to this harsh climate was even harder for him than meditating in the freezing wind.

Yet he had still come, to fulfill the oath he had made when he enlisted and to guard the Empire's borders.

His thoughts swayed with the shadows on the wall, and the pleading gazes of the rangers surfaced before him once more. The recent situation had been exceedingly delicate. The Orks seemed to have lowered their banners and fallen silent, and their usual stealthy prowling had become far less frequent. Yet cavalry had appeared across the wilderness in cluster after cluster—Ork cavalry.

They roamed everywhere, obstructing the rangers' movements and making it difficult for them to penetrate deep into the heart of the wasteland. General Yusuf, however, seemed anxious, desperately eager to learn what was happening within. Repeated forced breakthroughs had caused ranger casualties to soar. Every reconnaissance mission had become a journey toward death.

Pei Geduo found it difficult to refuse their requests. Although he had told them countless times that Hanan's prophecies were merely uncertain, fleeting glimmers, they seemed to want nothing more than some comfort for their hearts.

Thus, he had no choice but to take on the unglamorous role of "diviner," filling soldiers about to depart with false words of good fortune. Ridiculously, the officers seemed to approve of it greatly, even suggesting that all Wizards should "boost morale" this way, though Kaimon's priests had voiced considerable objections.

But there was nothing they could do. Prayer was more like a bedtime story used to soothe children.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and ascended to a higher state of mind, allowing the natural rhythms of memory and intuition to guide him as he freed his spirit from his flesh.

The waves of the Vast Ocean carried him into darkness. Pei Geduo hoped to glimpse a trace of the future. Though he was a registered Wizard of the Crow School, he had never independently completed a successful prophecy. Still, his mentor often praised his talent, telling him that most people needed thirty years or even longer before they could follow even the faintest thread of a vision.

He quickly erased that thought. If he remained focused on his own desires within this realm made of emotion, it would only lower his chances of success. Most Wizards failed at this very step.

His connection to the material world gradually faded. The invisible ocean surged around him, a vortex formed from nameless emotions and causeless dimensions. Ripples born of powerful minds, violent feelings, and primal impulses pushed him deeper.

They rose around him like incense, though clusters had no concept of direction.

These emotions and sensations gathered into impenetrable banks of thick fog, surrounding him.

His approach caused countless latent images to emerge within the mist. His existence shaped the void-like medium that made up this parallel realm, while he himself was shaped by it as well.

This was the essence of Hanan. To Wizards, it was the source of all things. Nothing was impossible here, for this place was the forge of creation, the beginning of all things, encompassing the past, present, and future.

Pei Geduo continued to fly, bathing ecstatically in Hanan's energy and renewing himself. When he returned to his body, he would be full of vigor, like an ordinary man after a night of deep sleep.

The colorful world around him stretched into infinite possibilities. He let his thoughts drift with the current, hoping to chance upon a fissure filled with things yet to come.

Yet he had not forgotten the teachings of the Crow School. While opening his mind to embrace that vast void of consciousness, he also had to guard his inner self closely. To attempt to interpret the future, this seemingly contradictory state was crucial. It was quite difficult for him, and nearly impossible for those with less talent.

Gradually, he sensed signs of other beings within the Vast Ocean. Those invisible creatures possessed insatiable greed. They were nothing more than pitiful scraps of souls, gathering toward him like moths around a candle flame.

They sought to devour him, but Pei Geduo drove them away with a thought. Such inferior beings posed no threat to a Wizard like him, one already skilled at entering and leaving Hanan. But older, hungrier things lurked in the invisible void—malicious hunters that fed upon the burning life and souls of mortal travelers.

Pei Geduo was well protected, but he was not without concern.

At first, there was only a soft hissing, like raindrops falling against glass.

He felt that nearly imperceptible tug and deliberately drifted in the opposite direction. If he moved too quickly, he would disturb the structure of the Vast Ocean. His swelling eagerness would obscure the fickle, delicate threads of the future.

Pei Geduo restrained his emotions, allowing his trajectory to slowly merge with a thin current among countless lights and shadows. He opened the eyes of his mind and peered into those chilling events yet to come.

He saw a towering, sacred gray mountain range. Any mountain range he had ever seen was insignificant beside it. The vast space beyond it was filled with pure white light, like a blooming snowflake, while thunderclouds streaked with green lightning obscured the sun in the distance.

He felt that this had to be important. Prophetic visions within Hanan originated from the Vast Ocean, but they were also influenced by the prophet. These mountains and thunderclouds might be genuine foretellings, or they might be allegories representing something greater. How to distinguish the two depended on his skill.

Burning excitement spread through his incorporeal body. This was the first time in many years that he had successfully lifted Hanan's veil and revealed the future. He was only twenty-seven years old. Did this mean the eternally shifting tides of power favored him in particular?

These intense emotions sent out ripples, disturbing the void around him. The vision immediately shattered apart like a lake beneath a torrential downpour. Pei Geduo struggled to remain calm, but his tenuous control over that thin current was already on the verge of collapse. The gray mountain range burst into countless teardrop-like fragments and vanished into nothingness. Upon every fragment was reflected a frenzied eye, filled with bloodlust and rage.

He tried to seize hold of that trembling, crude image, but Hanan began to surge. Violent ripples born of his own desires washed it away completely. Like a storm suddenly forming, the Vast Ocean became incomparably chaotic. His frustration in turn affected him. Crimson waves battered his body, tearing his consciousness away from the image of the future.

He returned beneath the veil and immediately sensed the starving Hanan hunters nearby. They were greedy predators formed from concepts of thought, creatures that specialized in tracking travelers' emotions and devouring their souls.

More than a dozen hunters surrounded him like piranhas scenting blood. He had lingered too long. This dimension was no longer safe.

The first predator, formed from hunger and instinct, emerged from the blood-red fog. It charged straight at him, growing gleaming fangs in the space of a thought. Pei Geduo flew aside, but the crimson body twisted and pursued him relentlessly.

At the same time, another predator emerged from the red mist. He had compared them to piranhas in his mind, and that gave those hunters the streamlined bodies of highly evolved, perfect killers.

He forced himself to cleanse his mind and discard all metaphors and words, because those concepts were the weapons his enemies could use.

He darted out of their encirclement, but they had already fixed upon his trail. More predators began hunting him. Their vague forms changed endlessly, and every horrifying shape took form from the careless metaphors he had made.

A huge, powerful void hunter lunged at him, opening massive jaws in an attempt to swallow him whole. Pei Geduo drew out the Hanan energy from the red mist, gathered it around himself, and unleashed a torrent of will at the hunter. Its body immediately exploded into countless fragments, which were promptly devoured piece by piece by the other predators.

A staff appeared in Pei Geduo's hand, lightning from Hanan coiling around its shaft. Such a weapon was indispensable now, but also exceedingly dangerous. Such brilliant light would attract other hunters. Yet without this power, he had only one path: death. His soulless mortal body would become an empty shell, frozen stiff in his room.

They circled around him, occasionally lunging forward to tear at him, only to be driven back by his staff each time. Pei Geduo rose into the third state of mind. He needed the focus provided by self-awareness to stay alive, but it would only intensify the predators' hunger. They suddenly pounced. Having long sensed the growing fury of those creatures, Pei Geduo swung his weapon.

The nearest hunter vanished beneath a single blow, while another was overwhelmed by a violent mental impact and fled. One hunter tried to bite him. He flashed aside as its incorporeal fangs snapped shut, missing his body by a hair's breadth and nearly tearing him to pieces. He thrust his staff into the predator's head, banishing it into its most primitive state of energy while feeling its primal hunger and rage.

The frightened pack eased its assault, yet remained unwilling to stop pursuing him. The hunters' instincts were deadly and cunning, craving satisfaction.

They attacked him three more times. After each retreat, their numbers continued to grow, while he became weaker and weaker. Strands of subtle energy flowed uncontrollably from him into the void.

He could not keep fighting like this for long. Battle in Hanan consumed far more energy than battle in reality.

In the physical world, a Wizard could fight continuously for several days without rest. But here, the time one could endure was measured in seconds. Wizards of the Crow School could travel within the Vast Ocean longer than most, yet the exhaustion from this battle had already pushed Pei Geduo to the limits of his endurance.