章 234: Mental Troubles

"Hehe… loser…."

"Weak… human!"

"Gieahaha!"

Gerald awoke from his momentary rest, jumped up, and gripped the sword.

"Who is it?!" He frantically looked around. There was nobody there. He turned around a few times to confirm his surroundings. "Am I imagining things?"

He struck the sword in the ground and massaged his eyes, feeling tired.

"Heiyaaaaa!"

A Goblin appeared in front of his face, all bloodied and with a lacerated body, it tried to bite him in the face.

"Die!" Gerald roared and swung his sword. He struck air.

"Hehe…"

He turned around and saw a Hobgoblin aiming an arrow at him. It released the string.

"Ugh!" Gerald swung his sword again at the arrow, but when he looked back, the Hobgoblin was nowhere to be seen. No trace of the arrow also.

But the beasts just kept coming, from all sides, endlessly. Every time he struck them, they would disappear. His mind was in turmoil, disorganized and foggy. It took him some time to realize they weren't real.

"Hahaha!" He burst out into roaring laughter, and tears of sadness rolled down his cheeks. "It finally happened! I'm going insane! Hahaha!"

He collapsed to his knees from exhaustion, and the sword slipped from his grasp.

"Haha… It's over… I lost my magic, my body is breaking down, and now I'm even having hallucinations!"

"That's great, that's exactly what I needed, motherfucking Schizophrenia! Haha…" He actually broke down crying.

"I-I can't do this anymore…" All the pent-up emotions burst out at once, and he lost himself in sorrow.

From the very beginning, he was alone. Nobody in this place could understand how he felt, and the thing that kept him going, and kept his sanity in check, was the ability to use magic.

Suddenly being transported into an extremely dangerous and primitive world without any knowledge or people to rely on would most often than not end badly.

He was extremely lucky to have the talent for magic and quite a broad knowledge base which helped him navigate the unknowns. However, That wasn't enough. Even the times when he acted silly or a bit crazy, it was all his way of subconsciously coping with his new reality.

Nevertheless, the changes were way too extreme even for him, and having risked his life so many times in such a short amount of time was bound to have consequences. The fact that he could use an otherworldly thing such as magic was the pillar on which his entire psyche stood.

Now that it broke down, his mind went with it.

All the trauma, fears, concerns… All the things he missed from his previous life such as a comfortable bed, a hot shower whenever he wanted, a relaxing evening watching movies… Even just a cup of hot coffee, it was all gone, damn it!

Now, granted, he adapted to all these changes on the surface, but that's because he had no choice! Who in their right mind would trade the luxuries of the 21st century for the lifestyle of a medieval-ish person?

The quality of every single thing, with perhaps the exception of meat, was worse. They didn't even have proper toilets!

Even when he lost his hand he didn't worry much. But that's all because magic allowed him to transcend flesh, and use his prosthetic like a normal limb, it was even better in some cases!

All the powers he got relied on magic. Even his superhuman strength, without the reinforcements from the Iron Body, he would tear all his muscles and tendons in a matter of minutes, should he try to use it at full power.

He spent a few hours lamenting and cursing the world until he couldn't go on any longer.

He then simply turned silent and lifeless, almost giving in to despair, with only the constant visual and auditory hallucinations keeping him company.

The beasts rushed at him and attacked, but what could they do? They weren't even real! Gerald was already sick of them, but just like they couldn't harm him, he couldn't get rid of them either.

Then again, it has been a while since he has done nothing. Just sitting there, with all the time in the world, presented him with an opportunity to think things through.

He would have to get someone to open the Ring for him. Without magic, all of his things were stuck inside, he couldn't even get the potions he prepared specially for an occasion like this. He even got proper Health Potions instead of those cheap Healing Potions. They should be able to fix him up quickly…

Gerald clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and sighed, "Maybe this is the punishment from God… I let the greed and arrogance consume me, it was about time I learn some humility."

He placed his hand on his chest and turned his gaze towards the sky, silently praying, "God, I never believed in you because the whole notion of your existence is stupid… But! If you are there, I promise to be good from now on. I'll help the poor and those in need and share your mighty name… Actually, what is your name, do you even have it?" As his prayer started to wander, he quickly caught himself and continued praying seriously.

With a pious gaze, he spoke, "I shall be humble from this day forward, I will accept my place in this world and follow the plan you have set for me. I'll get myself a wife, raise a family, and… and…"

As the quiet sky did not answer his prayers, he fell down and kowtowed to it amid shouting and crying, "Please! Just please let me use magic again! I beg you, I'll be good, I promise! Give me another chance! I'll pray to you, I can even give you my firstborn like in the Bible!"

***

"Lost his magic?" Ravian scratched his head in confusion. "So what? That happens often after you overuse it, right? He should be back to normal in a few weeks…"

"But what if he doesn't know that?" Tabbris said with concern. "We don't know if any more monsters are roaming around…"

"He is that strong without magic?!" a guy shouted in disbelief. "I don't think you need to be concerned for him in that case."

"What do you mean, Blum?"

Blum made a weird expression with a half-smile and pointed at his chest plate. A few people chuckled quietly.

"Oh, right, that…"

"He's right," Tabbris said. "Gerald's going to be just fine by himself. He is mentally strong, this much is probably nothing to him! Come, let's take care of our problems first!"