Numbness and Madness

For this blow, Zhang Yuan also paid a heavy price. Just as he was about to slash the gnoll's throat, the gnoll took the opportunity to swing its sword at his back.

Even though Zhang Yuan sensed the attack and managed to turn his body slightly while slashing his blade, and even with the protection provided by Mage Armor, the sword still landed squarely on his back. Blood gushed out, and the severed muscles flared outwards from the wound, nearly exposing bone.

He had never been this severely injured before. Even in his first encounter with the Digging Worm, Zhang Yuan hadn't suffered such a significant loss.

The intense pain in his back surged through Zhang Yuan's nerves like a tide. He could barely hold onto his sword and felt like giving up and passing out.

But the will to survive wouldn't allow it. As the gnoll relentlessly pressed its attack, sword swinging, he rolled away from the blade almost instinctively. The moment the wound on his back came into contact with the sand and dirt on the ground, the sensation, like a thousand knives cutting him, made him want to cry.

Gritting his teeth, he stumbled to pick up his longsword, and Zhang Yuan defended against the gnoll's assault almost purely on instinct.

Swinging, blocking, thrusting, parrying, dodging, rolling—these actions, learned through training, along with flashes of memory, Skar's scoldings, and the lessons from being knocked down countless times, finally came together in his hands.

As if hypnotized, Zhang Yuan numbly and ferociously swung his longsword again and again until someone grabbed him from behind, the intense pain jolting him awake.

An ambush! This was Zhang Yuan's instinctive reaction. Just as he was about to resist, the indistinct voice by his ear finally became clear: "Stop, stop! We won, we won! There are no enemies, no danger. Charnem, can you hear me?"

Enemies? No enemies? Safe? Truly safe? Who is Charnem? Who is calling Charnem? Who am I?

A flood of questions overwhelmed Zhang Yuan's consciousness. His mind felt stiff, and he stood there blankly for a long time before snapping back to reality.

"Right, I'm Zhang Yuan. I'm from another world. I'm Zhang Yuan. I'm Charnem. Charnem? Where are my companions? Did we win?"

He turned to look at his companions, his neck rotating so slowly, like a rusty old robot.

"Yes, we won. Your opponent is dead. We won."

The big guy released his grip and patted Zhang Yuan's shoulder. Bard also came over to pat him, but could only reach his waist.

"That bastard is dead? How did he die?" someone gritted out, the pain from his back fueling his rage.

"You killed him. Good heavens, it was brutal. You chopped him up so badly there wasn't a whole piece of skin left on him."

"I killed him?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't stop, even when he was already dead. You didn't even spare the corpse."

As Bard spoke, he pointed to the ground. What met his eyes was like a painting rendered in ketchup, very abstract. You couldn't even tell it had been a humanoid creature before.

Zhang Yuan, having regained his senses, roughly understood what had happened. He just never imagined that such a frenzied state could occur in someone as usually steady (and cautious) as himself.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of lingering fear. He had lost all reason at that moment, focusing solely on the enemy before him. While this state allowed him to turn the tables on the ambush, his lack of vigilance and awareness meant that if any other gnolls had targeted him, there would have been no outcome other than decapitation.

Fortunately, his teammates hadn't faltered. They had eliminated all the other enemies. Except for Tiny, who had dispersed after its summoning time expired, the remaining teammates were all injured, but none had died.

After letting out a sigh of relief, Zhang Yuan felt the pain from his back wound intensify. He hadn't felt it during his frenzied state, but now the pain was so bad he was close to tears. He quickly took off his shirt and asked his teammates to help bandage it.

Minsc, who came to help, glanced at the wound and said, "It's nothing, just a minor injury."

Minor injury? Zhang Yuan was so angry he almost laughed. What would he call a serious injury? Being cut in half?

Bard spoke up, "Your wound doesn't look as bad as it is. Normally, sustaining such an injury and continuing to fight, even if you didn't bleed to death, the wound itself would have worsened."

He said, somewhat strangely, "But your wound, apart from being pale from blood loss, shows almost no other signs of aggravation. It's not even bleeding much anymore. Your constitution is almost as good as that scoundrel Kagan's."

"If my wounds were already scabbing over, I'd be up drinking by now," Kagan's words carried a hint of disdain, clearly proud of his own constitution. However, the curious look in his eyes as he examined the wound betrayed that he wasn't as nonchalant as he appeared.

Knowing his own body, Zhang Yuan, lying on the ground while his teammates tended to his wounds, felt an overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude for his system.

If not for his adjusted constitution, which was a solid 18 points, either that moment he was choked or this vicious wound on his back would have been fatal on the spot, let alone any subsequent aggravation.

The stats, which were usually unremarkable, were actually the foundation supporting him. His rapid progress during training and the valuable margin for error provided by his physical fitness were things that could hardly be compensated for through acquired means.

He thought about this, while simultaneously howling in pain as his wound was being treated.

After the treatment was finally complete and they were preparing to bandage it, someone pulled out a bottle of disinfectant alcohol: "Minsc, spray this on the wound."

Even with good constitution, he was still wary of tetanus. Being cautious wouldn't hurt.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Minsc opened the bottle cap, he was surrounded by two dwarf-sized barrels.

"No, absolutely not! How can you waste such good wine?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yuan was almost furious enough to explode: "My life is worth less than wine in your eyes?"

"Ah, yes." "Don't misunderstand, I'm just saying it's a waste."

Though the words were different, the meaning was the same. Zhang Yuan's face darkened even further, turning from a dark cloud to the bottom of a pot.

"I'll find a way to get some strong liquor. Anyone who has their eye on this bottle of potion and tries anything, don't expect me to share my wine with you anymore!"

"Don't lie to me, this is a bar, how can it be a potion?"

"Magic! I put magic in it. It just smells like wine. Also, shut up, I'm in a lot of pain right now, Ahhhhhhhh~"

As Minsc poured the alcohol onto the wound, a scream like a pig being slaughtered tore through the night sky, which had already calmed down.

Perhaps the fierce battle earlier had scared away other beasts in the jungle, but the rest of the journey was uneventful. The four of them safely returned to Beregost.

After bidding farewell to Kagan, the remaining three returned to the Happy Entertainers, much to Skar's surprise.

The three of them were covered in wounds, big and small. The rookie mage, in particular, was wrapped in thick bandages and looked as limp as a wilted rooster.

"What happened to you? Did you run into bandits?" Skar was confused for a moment.

"You could say that. After all, gnoll bandits are still bandits." Zhang Yuan slumped onto a table, refusing to move.

He then proceeded to explain the entire sequence of events to his inexpensive captain in that very position.

Skar, upon learning what happened, also felt that the rookie in front of him was truly lucky. If Kagan hadn't joined, if they hadn't unexpectedly acquired this magic cloak, all three of them would probably have perished in that forest.

Knowing that the other party had always been striving for the Mage's career path, Skar didn't blame them excessively. The path was chosen by oneself, and one simply had to be prepared to bear the consequences.

He merely sighed, "Your injuries need time to heal. You should stay here and recuperate. Report back to Baldur's Gate after you've recovered."

"No need. My injuries aren't that serious. Besides, you won't find the Oracle without me, so I have to go back with you," someone protested, raising their head, but inadvertently aggravating the wound on their back, causing them to grimace.

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