Dr. J'an
There are moments in history where a man stands at the edge of something vast—
and returns changed.
Not stronger.
Not wiser.
But… unstable.
This is one of those moments.
Journal of Marrick — Return
I do not remember the walk back.
Not clearly.
The mountains blurred.
The air felt… wrong.
Like it was not meant for me.
Or I was not meant for it.
Every step felt uncertain.
Heavy.
As if I had forgotten how to exist.
What is a step?
What is breath?
What is—
me?
…
That word felt distant.
Like something I used to understand.
I reached the city.
My city.
What was once a tribe now stood as stone, flame, and structure.
Alive.
Growing.
Mine.
And yet—
it felt unfamiliar.
As if I were looking at something I once owned
but no longer understood.
People moved around me.
They spoke.
They bowed.
I did not hear them.
Their voices did not reach me.
Nothing reached me.
Not even myself.
…
Then—
her.
"Marrick."
Her voice cut through everything.
Clean.
Sharp.
Real.
I turned.
Slowly.
And there she was.
Ruke.
My wife.
Her face—
bright.
Alive.
Full of something I had not felt in a long time.
Joy.
"Marrick," she said, stepping closer, smiling in a way that felt almost unreal,
"I bring news… most delightfully."
I said nothing.
I could not.
"I am with child."
…
Everything stopped.
Then—
everything returned.
Violently.
Like being forced back into myself.
The fog shattered.
The weight lifted.
The confusion—
gone.
"Wait… what?" I said.
And for the first time in what felt like years—
I smiled.
A real smile.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Most definitely," she said, laughing softly. "My mother cast a verification sigil herself."
A child.
Mine.
Ours.
…
For the first time since my father died—
I felt something other than hunger.
Other than rage.
I stepped forward and pulled her into me.
Carefully.
Not out of restraint—
but out of something new.
Something fragile.
"Then we celebrate," I said.
"We celebrate properly."
I pulled back slightly.
"Does your father know?"
"No," she said.
"Then we will inform him as well."
I turned, grabbing one of the guards.
"Go," I commanded.
"Bring my mother, my sisters, and the High Xi'wu. Tell them to gather in the palace. Now."
The guard didn't hesitate.
He ran.
Good.
The Palace Gathering
Within the hour, they stood before me.
I sat upon my throne.
Ruke at my side.
And before me—
my blood.
My foundation.
My kingdom.
My mother stood first.
A woman who did not break.
Who did not fall.
Even after my father's death.
A weaker woman would have collapsed.
She endured.
Next to her—
May.
Soft.
Gentle.
Like a spring breeze that hides its strength.
Her mind built this city as much as my war did.
Every structure.
Every design.
Every expansion.
She shaped it.
Then Ki.
My youngest sister.
Strength in its rawest form.
Body and mind both unyielding.
She will become something great.
Of that, I have no doubt.
Then Han.
My eldest.
Firm.
Controlled.
A healer.
But not a weak one.
She bends magice in ways most cannot.
Stopping rot.
Forcing wounds closed.
Preserving life where it should have ended.
…
And beside them—
Ruke's father.
Fuxi.
The High Xi'wu.
The greatest magice user I have seen.
And the man who made this union possible.
Without him—
we would have destroyed each other.
Instead—
we became something greater.
I looked at them all.
And I spoke.
"You may wonder why I have called you here," I said.
"And I will not waste your time."
I leaned forward slightly.
"For the future of this kingdom—"
I paused.
Then smiled.
"My wife—your empress—is with child."
Silence.
Then—
explosion.
Joy.
Shock.
Relief.
My mother stepped forward first.
Her eyes—
something I had not seen in years.
Pride.
"My son…" she said softly.
May smiled.
Bright.
Genuine.
Ki laughed.
Loud.
Excited.
Han nodded.
Satisfied.
Fuxi…
watched.
Carefully.
Then—
he smiled.
Slow.
Knowing.
"A future," he said.
"Yes," I replied.
"A future."
The Celebration
It lasted for hours.
Food.
Drink.
Fire.
Laughter.
The city itself seemed to breathe differently.
Hope.
Strange.
Unfamiliar.
But not unpleasant.
For a moment—
just a moment—
I allowed myself to exist in it.
Not as a warlord.
Not as a conqueror.
But as something else.
Something… more.
Journal of Marrick — After
After the celebration—
I found Fuxi.
Or perhaps—
he found me.
It does not matter.
"Fuxi," I said.
"We need to speak."
He studied me.
Immediately.
He knew.
Something was wrong.
"What is it?" he asked.
I hesitated.
Not out of fear.
But because I did not know how to say it.
"I believe…"
I paused.
"I believe I have seen a god."
Fuxi froze.
"What?"
His tone sharpened instantly.
"Where? When? How? And how do you know it was not an Elder Beast?"
"Because it changed everything," I said.
"The world—space—myself."
I clenched my hand slightly.
"I almost lost the idea of 'me.'"
His expression shifted.
Concern.
Real concern.
"I was not looking at it," I continued.
"I was… part of it."
"A fragment."
"A thought that didn't belong to itself."
Silence.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
"In all my years," Fuxi said slowly,
"I have never heard of anything like this."
"No god appears before mortals."
"They do not need to."
He looked at me.
Uneasy.
"For one to do so…"
He trailed off.
"We should seek its favor," he said.
Immediately.
Without hesitation.
"How?" I asked.
"I almost unraveled just looking at it."
"We do not need to meet it again," he said.
"Most kingdoms never see their patron."
"They still gain favor."
"How?"
"Worship."
"Offerings."
I considered that.
"Offerings of what?"
He did not hesitate.
"The dead."
"The suffering we create."
"The pain of those beneath us."
…
I smiled slightly.
"That sounds perfect."
"What do we gain?" I asked.
"Shén Cì."
"What is that?"
"A gift," he said.
"A tool."
"Power."
"Knowledge."
"It depends on the offering."
"And the god."
I thought for a moment.
Then—
"What if I offer it an Elder Beast?"
Fuxi went still.
"Boy… are you mad?"
"No army—no kingdom—no force in these lands can kill an Elder Beast."
"But I am not a man," I said.
"I am emperor."
"My army is the largest."
"The strongest."
"That does not matter," he snapped.
"Not against something like that."
"This will destroy everything."
"My daughter."
Your child."
"Your empire."
"That is only if I lose," I said.
Calm.
Certain.
"If I win…"
I leaned forward.
"My name will never be forgotten."
"Fear will follow it."
"My empire will rise beyond anything that exists now."
"And if I do it correctly…"
I smiled.
"My enemies will destroy themselves for me."
Fuxi narrowed his eyes.
"What are you planning?"
"I will unite them," I said.
"All of them."
"The remaining tribes."
"The other empires ."
"I will make them fight the Elder Beast."
"Huǒ Róng Yuán."
"They will weaken it."
Die against it.
Bleed it.
Break it.
"And when they are finished…"
I stood.
"My true army will move."
"We will kill what remains."
"And I will take its head."
Silence.
Long.
Heavy.
"You are not a man," Fuxi said quietly.
"You are a devil."
I smiled.
"But this devil has never lost."
"…When?" he asked.
"Two years."
"Why?"
I turned slightly.
Toward the city.
Toward the future.
"So my child has time to grow."
"So when they learn what I have done…"
"They will understand what it means to rule."
— Dr. J'an
This is the moment everything changes.
Not when Marrick gained power.
Not when he conquered the mountains.
But when he chose to gamble everything—
for something beyond power.
Recognition.
Legacy.
Divinity.
And like all such decisions—
it would cost far more than he imagined.