"Dream! I need to dream something useful!"
It was the sole solution Henry believed would help him. He recalled his dream earlier and the explanation about magic. It was not him but the magus' life he was dreaming of!
He was certain it wasn't him because he had no prior knowledge about magi or magic. He only knew that they were capable of supernatural things.
He had no idea why he was having these dreams lately, but at this moment, it was his resource to save his mother!
Henry rushed to his bed and laid on it. He closed his eyes and relaxed his body as well as his breathing. He wasn't sure if this would work, but it was worth a try.
Relying upon those mercenaries and expecting them to save his mother was simply expecting too much from strangers. He knew that they would abandon the rescue mission if a great danger appeared.
He wanted to do something and guarantee that his mother would be saved! Of course, he was aware of the possibility she was already dead, but it wouldn't hinder Henry from trying.
Soon, Henry felt his consciousness fade away. The tiredness from running, his injured body, and the falling adrenaline in his blood all made him sleepy.
Additionally, his desire to save her prevailed over everything else.
. . . . .
. . . .
. . .
. .
.
It was dark. A magic tome lay in front of Henry.
"I refuse to die like this! ##########, I refuse!!"
His screams caused his injuries to flare up and sent a tsunami of pain throughout his entire body. It startled Henry, and his eyes turned bloodshot.
Henry found that he was on the floor with bloodied wounds all over his body. The pain throbbed and seared into his soul like a hot knife.
He was at his last breath. His soul occasionally drifted in and out. Signs of decay were spreading all over his body, which was as good as dead.
But he wasn't willing to give up yet.
He mustered all of his remaining strength and grabbed the magic tome.
"For heaven and earth, beyond this world, the master of all changes, the record of events in the past, present, and future, the holder of countless possibilities, the neverending torrent it holds, I guide you to thee, ferry my soul to a new possibility within the countless possibilities, save me from my damned present, O' Time, reincarnate me into the future…"
The world surrounding Henry warped like glass. He disliked chanting spells, but it allowed him to finish his spell at this moment.
This spell was simple. It was above his current class! It should've been impossible for him to do, but it still happened, either by miracle or by chance.
The pain searing his soul subsided, giving him a refreshing coolness. Afterward, he noticed his soul floated out of his body.
He looked behind him and saw his dead body. Meanwhile, a pristine white river with infinite branches appeared in front of him.
It was the River of Time and Infinite Possibilities.
Anything possible existed there. A world where Henry didn't die, a world where he was never born, or even a world where there was no magic.
It was a supreme dimension he only dreamed about.
It sucked him in, and he rushed past various realities and headed for one among the infinite dots of possibilities.
All of a sudden, a new kind of pain struck Henry's soul. His memories shattered into a multitude of pieces, his magic powers gone, his emotions sealed, and his consciousness faded to almost nothing.
The sound of a baby's cry resounded in the darkness.
.
. .
. . .
. . . .
. . . . .
"AH!"
Henry aggressively opened his eyes. Sweat covered his whole body. His heart thumped, and a giant hand seemed to squish his head, causing him to feel unspeakable pain.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
It was immense and unforgiving.
Fragments of unfamiliar memories drifted and flashed before his eyes. His past life, which he had forgotten, returned to him by an insignificant amount.
They were only a percent of his memories, but they were enough to change him.
"I succeeded…"
Henry's emotions were complex. He couldn't remember much of his past, but he knew he was almost dead before he chanted that spell.
It was so powerful that he broke through the walls of his reality and saw a glimpse of the river of time and possibilities. He witnessed something no one had ever witnessed before!
"My name is… Henry. It didn't change much."
He thought about it for a bit. He was now a powerless human with no magic abilities. He, who once towered over the world, became an insignificant ant once more.
"Ah…"
The pain vanished. Henry closed his eyes and reorganized his messy memories.
His dim consciousness merged with his current self, allowing him to regain his sense of self. He was still Henry, but he was now also a member of the present era.
The dreams he had the past week were memories from his past life. They were fragmented and surfaced to remind him of his previous glory. It succeeded, and he was able to regain himself.
He also dreamed of his disciples. Unfortunately, he could not remember their names at the moment. Their names were in the multitude of shattered memories still left in his soul.
"Ah! I need to save my mother!"
A clap of thunder rumbled Henry's mind. He remembered his initial goal.
He might be from the past, but he had also lived as the low commoner Henry in this life. His attachment and love for his mother would not fade just because he regained his past self.
As soon as he remembered, he rushed out of his room. He wore his shoes and headed out.
At this moment, the sun was in the process of setting. He didn't look at anything else and headed for the woods.
"Henry! Where are you going???"
Henry stopped in his tracks and turned his head. He noticed a crowd had gathered in front of his house. They all stared at him with pity and sadness.
A few of them were gazing at the woods with anticipation and hope. They were waiting for the mercenaries to return with Felicia.
"I'm going to save my mother!"
Henry shrilled in discontent. He hated that they called out to him and stopped him from running because every moment counted. He needed to save his mother and his only family left in this world!
The crowd was collectively shocked. They were stunned and only processed what Henry's words meant a few seconds later.
"He's crazy! He'll kill himself!"
An old uncle ran after Henry with several other men following behind him. At times like this, they were adults and knew the role they needed to play.
Henry heard their shouts and ignored them.
(This body has no mana. I drained the natural accumulation when I conjured that spell.)
Each person's body would naturally accumulate mana. Henry needed it to use spells later. Unfortunately, he had used it up.
It would take a few more months if he passively waited.
He was still weak at the moment. He might've managed to awaken his memories, but they didn't give him any offensive power. The goblins would easily tear him apart in his current state.
(I have no memories of how I can regain mana in a short time without using treasures…)
Henry's face fell into despair. His awakening would be for naught if he could not think of a solution that would work right now.
He wracked his mind and explored his available memories.
All of a sudden, a brilliant idea appeared. He took a deep breath and ran faster. His confidence skyrocketed as he found a solution.
The old uncles behind him found it too straining to run as fast as a youth like Henry. As a result, he eventually left them behind.
It didn't take long for him to find the cave. Many of the goblins were lying around dead at the entrance. Their green blood pooled everywhere.
The carnage was there, but the mercenary group was nowhere to be found.
Henry didn't hesitate and rushed inside the cave.
Inside were countless bodies of dead goblins, and they never disappeared as Henry kept going.
This cave punched into the depths of the mountain. The brightness of the surroundings slowly dissipated and was replaced by an eerie darkness.
Henry stopped for a bit and waved his hands in front of him in a complex manner.
Wisps of mana gathered from the surroundings and turned into a small clump in front of his chest. Finally, he sped up his hand motions, and a change appeared.
Fwoosh!
A small ball of flame formed as the mana transformed into fire. It lit up Henry's surroundings and allowed him to see in the darkness.
"I may not have mana, but the environment always does!"
Henry grinned and continued running with the flame ball leading the way. This was the solution he came up with earlier.
The most basic magus class was called the Simple-class. The Magus of this class could create a ball of flame to light up their surroundings.
This kind of magic was simple, thus the name of the class.
But this required one to be a magus, and Henry was not one! Instead, he was still a human mortal.
In one of Henry's memory fragments, he conversed with his second disciple high up in the sky. At that time, he said a lower-class magus could use a spell of a higher class if they looked at the bigger picture.
Henry manually moving wisps of mana to form a clump and then catalyzing it to transform into fire was such an example!
It was because of that memory that Henry had the idea. If not, he wouldn't have been able to use spells at all.
Naturally, something like it was not simple. A prerequisite would be to understand mana.
Most people would have no idea how mana worked until they became magi. At that time, it was useless for them to manually gather them from the environment.
Henry was an exception. He had prior experience, and he was skilled at it at the same time!
He didn't have any memories of his magus class before he died, but he instinctively knew it was very high. He might not be in that class anymore, but his experience was still ingrained into his soul.
If he could regain more of them, more of his experiences would also return and aid him.
"He's dead."
Henry stopped before a dead body. This one wasn't a goblin but a human. The person was also familiar to Henry.
It was Wanner, the person who carried him on his shoulder.
Henry feared for the worst. He ran and followed a trail of blood.
Before long, he reached a room. A sour and rotten stench assaulted his face. There were corpses piled everywhere.
They were composed of various animals. Some of which were from humans of varying ages. These humans were mostly children and some elderly.
It was impossible to recognize them anymore. They were mostly bones with tiny bits of rotten meat attached.
Henry gagged. He was not used to such a horrifying scene with most of his memories forgotten.
He felt a bad premonition. He slowed his pace and sized up the narrow cave passage ahead first. He couldn't hear anything. There were no sounds of fighting. It was very eerie.
Silence prevailed, chilling Henry's heart.
At the entrance lay another human corpse. He was also a member of the mercenary group.
At this point, Henry could guess the fate the rest of the group ended up in. He walked slowly and carefully.
The passage led to another room that was much bigger and spacious.
Faint noises of babies came from within.
To play it safe, Henry's flame dissipated. It was dark again, but there was light in that room.
He slowly poked his head and saw a scene out of a horror movie.
Baby goblins and meat of humans…
These little shits ate raw human bodies with grins on their despicable faces. For them, it seemed like the raw flesh were delicacies.
At the center laid two corpses that attracted Henry's attention. The baby goblins circled them and feasted.
Four torches at each corner of the cave lit up this place. Henry could see everything that was happening.
There was a throne at the far end.
A tall and burly goblin sat on the throne. He lifted a silhouette of a woman up and down his lap.
"Mother!"
Henry was distraught at the scene. His anger overshadowed his reason, and he shouted without thinking.
He quickly regained his senses and regretted it. That was a fatal mistake.
When they heard his shout, the baby goblins stopped eating. Their heads simultaneously swiveled to Henry. The view caused Henry to shiver with fear.
As for the tall and burly goblin, it paused and turned to Henry. It put down Felicia and stood up.
She was still alive, but her soul was gone. She was unresponsive to the pain caused by her being put down on the rocky ground.
She was now a rag doll with no sense of purpose in life.
"MAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
The burly goblin laughed evilly.
(Shit! This is a hobgoblin!)
Henry realized with great horror.