Christian slowly opened his eyes, his body feeling heavy, and his headache feeling like a rave was constantly playing around. Everything was so blurry that he thought something had gone wrong with his eyes. It took him a good minute after regaining consciousness for him to see properly and regain any cognitive functions.
"Cristos…Cristos…Cristos!"
"Good, you're responsive," Xin'er said. "Are you alright?"
"I think so," Christian replied slowly.
"Here, eat another vitaseed; it might help." Christian ate the seed, and he sensed a powerful energy that rushed through his body, alleviating his physical discomfort. However, the seed did not help much with his headache.
"I'm surprised you're alive."
"Lucretia," Xin'er reprimanded.
"What? I'm just telling the truth," she shrugged. "My great-uncle once tried to bewitch a metal-eating beast, and the result was his mind crumbling and dying a few days later, and not before turning into an idiot who could not recognize his name."
Lucretia gazed at him curiously. "But look at him. He's perfectly fine."
"That was indeed reckless," Xin'er added. "Only [High Enchanters] can bewitch living beings without ceremonial magic, and the process requires meticulous care and preparations."
'So, that's why I fainted?' Christian thought. It seems the group discussed his situation while he passed out and came to this conclusion. "The situation was dangerous, and I did what I thought would be the best way to survive. I didn't know there would be such severe consequences."
"It's really odd how you know so much about magic but lack so much common sense," Xin'er pointed out.
"Blame that on my isolated training," Christian provided an excuse.
"I understand now," Lucretia suddenly said. "You're a demi-god!"
"That's it. You must be the product of a God and a powerful mage. You awakened your magical abilities instead of divine powers, so your magical parent taught you spells before sending you to the library to complete your training.
"That would explain your vast knowledge, magical competency, and extreme talent. And if your parents lived in seclusion, without interference from the outside world, this would explain why you lack so much common sense." Lucretia's eyes were bright, and she looked at Christian smugly as if she had uncovered some grand secret.
"You have a knack for storytelling. You should pursue it if you ever found magic unappealing," Christian replied, almost rolling his eyes.
"Am I wrong? Only a divine lineage could explain, well, you."
"Where is my wand?" Christian asked, deciding to ignore this crazy girl with wild fantasies. "I'm thirsty." Xin'er handed him the wand, and Christian tried to turn a pebble into a cup before conjuring the water. However, his spell failed. He focused on trying again with no result.
"Aguamenti," Christian used an incantation to assist him, and he did not attempt the more difficult Transfiguration; however, the result was the same. The other three stared at him while holding their breath. After what they'd experienced, they knew Cristos was the most reliable member of their team, meaning they would be in great trouble and danger if he lost his magical abilities.
'It seems I cannot concentrate. Is something wrong with my mind?' Christian swiftly put two and two together based on what he felt and what Lucretia said about her uncle. So, he closed his eyes to access his Mind Palace. The source of the problem was directly before him: Cracks! More than a dozen cracks in places all over his Mind Palace.
Christian could already deduce the possible effects of these cracks. He would lose his ability to concentrate/focus, his short-term and long-term memories would be severely affected, and he would lose his ability to have absolute control over his mind. He deduced those effects from his knowledge of Occlumency and Legilimency, and since he still knew very little of the mind, there would probably be even more side effects.
'No, I must do something,' Christian thought, immediately planning his next move. He first checked his soul and sighed in relief after not noticing any changes. If the situation reached beyond his mind and into his soul, then he would truly be screwed. He then checked on the second mind palace containing Jim's memories and felt relieved after seeing it intact. Now that he was reassured, Christian focused on the task at hand.
'Magic is all about visualization. Could I imagine the palace healing?' Christian thought. He immediately tried this approach, but nothing happened. 'Magic is indeed about visualization, but there is a logic behind it, meaning the key is finding the right visualization. So, what is the logic to healing my mind?'
Christian took a moment to think of his understanding of magic, trying to find a solution to his problem. 'The mind palace is a way to concentrate all my thoughts, memories, ideas, and experiences into an organized system. I built that system when I built the palace, so if I want to fix it, I just need to use the same method I used to build the palace, but place the building materials on the spots with cracks.'
Christian did not hesitate to apply the Mind Palace Method using his Occlumency. The first version of this method was created based on information from Jim's memories, but when Christian wanted to charm with his mother and Uncle Sullivan, he improved on it.
He started by condensing the materials for the palace before fusing them into the smallest crack. 'It worked,' Christian thought excitedly. Then, he focused on repairing every one of them, not leaving one unfixed.
Christian exhaled deeply, feeling very refreshed. The headache was gone, and as he opened his eyes, the world felt clearer than ever.
"By Hypnos' grace, we thought something had happened to you," Lucretia said, sounding very relieved. "How can you suddenly fall asleep for so long?"
"Asleep? No, I was just fixing the problem with my mind. And what do you mean by so long? It hasn't even been an hour," Christian replied.
"You've been for over 12 hours."
"No, I kept track, and it was indeed 12 hours," Xin'er said.
"It didn't feel that long," Christian muttered.
"Are you alright now?" Xin'er asked.
"I should be." Christian flicked his wrist and effortlessly turned the pebble into a cup. He followed that by conjuring water and turning it into soda. "See? Perfectly —" His stomach suddenly growled louder than a bear's roar, making him blush. Luckily, the dark light of the moon hid his complexion. Unfortunately, the veil of the night did not protect him from Lucretia's laughter.
"You should eat something," Xin'er suggested, and Christian nodded. "Where is my bag of holding?"
"Here," Menes handed it to him.
"Have you guys already eaten?"
"We have," Xin'er replied.
"But you should help us with some drinks. The water from Menes' plant was truly horrid," Lucretia stopped laughing to add. Christian glared but ultimately chose the higher ground and gave everybody juice. While chomping down that terrible-tasting ant meat, Christian looked around.
"You said I've been out for 12 hours? If you add the first time I passed out, that's an additional 2 hours."
Christian squinted. "I remember it was night when we first landed, so why has nothing changed after so long?"
"We also noticed this," Xin'er replied. "The best explanation is that this place was artificially created to be in a permanent night state."
"I guess that makes sense," Christian nodded. He looked around, focusing on the area about 15 meters from their camp. "This should be our way." The place they stood was surrounded by this creepy fog on all sides except one path that led to another creepy forest.
"What do you think we should do next? Travel to this forest or sleep for a few hours?"
Menes was quiet as usual, but Xin'er and Lucretia looked at each other. "We should probably sleep. We haven't rested since we were worried about you," said the Greek noble.
"Very well," Christian nodded. "I'm feeling energized, so I will keep watch. I'll place a few warding enchantments around, just in case." As he established the ward, the others slept in their sleeping bag that Menes made from vines he conjured. By the time Christian finished, everybody was already in a deep sleep, so he entered his bag of holding to check on things.