Chapter 268: Mind at the Breaking Point

Outside the room's window, the sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon. Absolute silence hung in the room.

​Iron slowly opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling for a few seconds, gradually focusing his blurry vision and looking around the room.

​He tried to get up, but couldn’t, and sank powerlessly back onto the pillow. He lightly rubbed his eyes with the fingers of his left hand. After lying like that for another few minutes until his head finally cleared, Iron made a second attempt.

​This time he slowly sat up and perched on the edge of the bed. Looking around, Iron shifted his gaze to the table and locked his eyes on the crystal lying there.

​He got out of bed, took his first step, and swayed slightly from residual weakness. However, he immediately straightened his posture and, with a calm, even stride, walked over to the tabletop and sat on the chair.

​The crystal itself had darkened considerably — there was no trace left of its former dark blue color and the faint white glow along its sharp edges. It had turned pitch black.

​Iron took the crystal in his hands and began to examine its facets, and his eyes suddenly widened as he realized what had happened.

​"Wait, Lumon..." he said quietly. "Don't tell me that..."

​Iron stared at the crystal in his palms, examining it again.

​And at that moment, an even, dry voice echoed in his mind:

​"Correct. The crystal, charged with the Electro element, has lost all its properties."

​Iron went into shock. He couldn't utter a word and just stared at the black structure in his palms. The next moment, he leaned back in the chair and simply uncurled his fingers.

​The dark crystal fell to the floor with a clatter. Several noticeable cracks ran across its surface from the impact, but it didn't shatter completely.

​Iron covered his face with his palm and muttered through his fingers:

"Fuck..."

At that moment, a dry click came from the door lock. The door opened, and Noah entered the room holding grocery bags. He closed the door behind him, walked deeper into the room, and stopped by the table.

​Noticing Iron sitting with his face covered by his hand, and the cracked black stone on the floor, Noah placed the bags on the tabletop and asked:

​"What happened?"

​Noah began to take out and arrange the groceries he had brought. Iron slowly removed his palm from his face, fixed a heavy gaze on him, and said:

"The crystal is fucked."

​Noah cast a brief glance at the floor where the crystal lay and calmly said:

​"Well, that's not surprising."

​"Fuck..." Iron clenched his jaw and muttered aloud: "How could I forget that the crystal needed to be placed in an enclosed space? Damn it..."

​To himself, however, Iron barked at Lumon with savage anger:

​"Why the hell didn't you remind me about that?!"

​Lumon's voice immediately responded in his mind:

​"I provided you with the necessary crystal characteristics, which clearly stated the storage conditions, and we discussed this."

​"Yeah, but you could have reminded me!" Iron lashed out.

​Lumon fell silent. Meanwhile, Iron leaned forward, picked the cracked crystal up from the wooden floor, and began to examine its ruined matrix right in his palm.

​A couple of seconds later, Lumon spoke up again:

​"My apologies. I really should have reminded you."

​Iron exhaled heavily. He placed his elbow on the tabletop, rested his head in his palm, and stared gloomily at the crystal.

​Right between his fingers, the black mass began to crumble. And a moment later, the crystal completely fell apart, turning into fine dust.

​Iron just waved his palm slightly, dispersing the dust in the air so it wouldn't hang in front of him, and simply froze, staring motionlessly at his feet.

​Noah finished laying out the groceries on the tabletop and tossed out briefly:

​"Eat."

​He turned around and headed straight for the exit of the room:

​"I'm going to go train for a bit."

​Noah had already grabbed the door handle and opened the door when Iron, without turning his head, said:

​"Tomorrow we return to our village."

​Noah froze and stared at Iron in bewilderment.

​The engineer, not looking at Noah, added dryly:

​"It's not up for discussion. We really need you there."

​Noah exhaled heavily, shaking his head:

​"Alright."

​He had almost closed the door behind him, but right before the lock clicked, he managed to toss into the room:

​"But only after I fight one more monster."

​The door finally closed. Iron was left alone in the room.

​"Fine..." he whispered into the silence.

​Shifting his gaze to the groceries left on the table, Iron saw dessert and fruits — exactly the same ones he had recently bought for Noah himself.

​Iron took the dessert and slowly began to eat.

​Alright, at least I managed to save the crystal's structure and can recreate it now, he reasoned mentally, chewing his food.

​Then he clenched his jaw and said quietly:

​"But still, to forget like that..." he tapped his fingers on his head and added: "Losing your touch..."

​Iron continued to eat, fixing his gaze straight ahead, and thought quietly to himself:

​I really do miss her in moments like this...

​A few minutes later, Iron finished the dessert, ate a couple of fruits, and neatly arranged the leftovers on the edge of the table. Getting up, he walked to the bed and collapsed heavily onto the mattress, staring at the ceiling.

​Yeah, I should really take a few days off from my calculations... Iron thought.

​He raised his right hand and cupped his forehead, digging his fingers into his temples:

​"So many thoughts in my head. Well, even the slightest information makes you forget the most important things."

​Iron froze for a second, and then quietly tapped his forehead with the knuckle of his thumb:

​"My head just isn't working at all."

​His arm fell limply onto the mattress. Iron lay motionless on his back, and then whispered into the empty room:

​"In moments like this, I just really want to give up... If... I really don't find her, then there's no point in living."

​He took a heavy breath, closed his eyelids, and mentally commanded himself:

​Alright, okay, that's it, just go to sleep.

​Night had fully fallen outside the window.

​Iron lay with his eyes closed, but sleep would not come. On the contrary, some feverish anxiety gripped his body. He turned onto his left side, pulled the blanket up to his chin, but after just ten seconds he felt a stifling heaviness and threw it down to his waist. He rolled onto his right side. Behind his closed eyelids, his eyes twitched frantically as nonexistent formulas, coordinates of spatial anchors, and parameters of phase waves raced uncontrollably through his mind.

​At some point, Iron felt his consciousness finally starting to grow heavy, slipping into sleep. His breathing slowed. But suddenly he accidentally opened his eyes without even realizing it. In that same second, all the accumulated drowsiness instantly vanished.

​"Fuck," Iron swore, burying his face in the mattress and rolling onto his stomach.

​He took a deep breath in and a slow breath out, trying to completely clear his head of thoughts. But the moment he closed his eyes again, a thin, vile ringing arose in his ears — like the quiet hum of high voltage.

​A physical, oppressive pressure built inside his skull, pushing against the back of his head and temples. Every attempt to think of nothing only amplified this hum.

​Iron clenched his jaw so hard his teeth ground together. Unable to bear this ringing and the crushing pressure in his head any longer, he reached out, yanked the pillow from under his head, and pressed it forcefully against his ears with both hands.

​He curled into a ball on his stomach, pressing the pillow against his head with all his might, trying to muffle both the outside world and this mental noise. His breathing became ragged and rapid, pushing right into the fabric of the mattress.

​Don't think, don't think, don't think, don't think, don't think... he looped the same phrase to himself.

​The minutes dragged on with unbearable slowness. The joints of his fingers, clutching the pillow, turned white from the strain, and his body remained completely tense.

​Only thirty minutes later did the heaviness behind his eyes begin to gradually dull. The thin ringing in his ears grew weaker, and the compressing pain in his temples receded a little.

​Iron gradually relaxed his fingers. His hands slipped onto the bed, and the pillow slid to the side. His body more or less relaxed, and he finally fell into a heavy sleep.

​Morning arrived unnoticed. Iron woke up to a short, rhythmic sound — "swish... swish..."

​He slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was dead from exhaustion. Iron turned his head slightly and saw Noah silently and intently practicing quick sword lunges right in the middle of the room.

​Iron tried to force himself to get up, but his body was so heavy that he felt a wild desire to just stay lying on the bed and never move again. Noah noticed that he had woken up, but said nothing and continued to fence, cleaving the air.

​About fifteen minutes passed before Iron finally came to his senses. With a heavy movement, he got up, sat on the edge of the bed, and stared at Noah as he trained:

"And where are all the coins?"

​Noah, without stopping his lunge practice or slowing his pace, replied evenly:

​"I leave them at the guild and take them from there when needed."

​"I see," Iron replied.

​He got out of bed and slowly walked towards the room's exit:

"Have you taken a quest yet?"

"No," Noah replied shortly.

​Iron grabbed the handle and opened the door:

​"Then let's go."

​"Already?" Noah asked, lowering his blade.

​"Yeah," Iron answered, having already crossed the threshold and stepping out into the corridor.

​Noah followed him out and slammed the door shut with a loud thud.

​Iron, without turning his head and continuing to walk down the corridor at a calm pace, merely reached his hand back and pointed at the key left in the keyhole:

​"Lock up."

​Noah turned the key in the lock, pulled it out, and tossed it toward Iron.

​The engineer, without slowing his stride on the way to the reception desk, reached a hand behind his back and caught the flying key.

After that, he calmly continued walking to hand it over to the receptionist, and Noah followed him in silence.