Having washed off the blood of his opponents, Gerald looked around the canyon valley. It was chaos.

There were more wounded people than those in perfect health, and many were wailing in grief for their fallen family members. It was clear that they weren't in a good state of mind to fight.

"Gerald!" He heard a person holler at him. "Give us a hand!"

It was one of the fighters from their gang. Another of their members was currently trapped beneath a pile of rubble. Luckily he wasn't hit directly, so he wasn't smashed beneath the stones, but his legs were pinned beneath a massive slab that couldn't be moved.

He quickly made his way over and sent a powerful wave of magic, lifting the stones slightly and pulling the man out at the same time. The guy had a few broken bones and was bleeding, but the wounds weren't life-threatening. At least not yet.

But that wasn't what was on Gerald's mind. He squinted his eyes and looked towards the top of the canyon. He could just about make some small figurines looking down at them.

"Why can't you just let me do my thing?!" He hissed through gritted teeth. Every time he did something, one thing or another had to go wrong. Honestly, he was getting sick of it.

"Damn! I have been careless!" Dug came close and grabbed hold of Gerald's shoulder to keep himself straight. It seemed he was also struck in the leg as he was walking with a noticeable limp.

"No, it's not your fault," Gerald replied emotionlessly. The truth was, he also missed the army of Sand Walkers hiding on the surface.

It was actually crazy how good they were at containing their Auras. Even with Magic Eyes, he wasn't able to see them. They were clearly experts in cloaking and ambush tactics.

But that gave him something to think about. If the Sand Walkers, as physically weak as they were, could control themselves so well to be practically invisible to Mana detection, then what about someone better and stronger?

The Magic Eyes he so confidently relied upon suddenly didn't seem so reliable anymore. And that's one of the things that pissed him off. He was overconfident… again.

"One of these days… One of these days my ego is going to cost me my life," he murmured, his brows furrowing.

He was well aware of his weaknesses. Less than a year ago he was just a normal student, lazy, unmotivated, and tired of living… But as magic came into his life, it was like a spark falling onto a gasoline-soaked heap of dry grass.

The desire for life and exploration of the unknown blossomed inside him, but at the same time, the undesirable traits also took root.

His ego, for example, something he didn't even know he had, expanded massively. It wasn't his intention, but he just felt superior.

He was much better than anyone else, that much was clear. His confidence inflated, however, this confidence was also the cause of many nearly fatal accidents he experienced recently. If it wasn't for sheer luck, in some cases, he would have died long ago.

He was painfully aware of this. He had to change it, and do it fast! His life depended on it!

But that was like a fat guy promising himself to start going to the gym the next day while eating a bag of chips. Nobody would believe he would do it, not because it wasn't possible, but because such changes were really painful.

Every time a person changed his habits and personality, that part of him had to die for something new to take its place.

The problem was that it felt so good! Being admired, being feared, it was so addicting! The feeling of power! It was unlike anything you could experience in a monotonous life of a normal person.

Some took solace in drink, others in gambling, videogames, or even sex… Gerald had something better. Magic! The most addicting drug of them all!

And when you were constantly high from dopamine release, feeling invincible, standing on top of the world… It was so hard to even realize something was wrong.

Luckily Gerald became aware before it was too late, but now the question was if he could change fast enough before meeting an opponent he could not beat, a mountain he could not overcome. He could only hope.

"Careful! They are getting ready to attack again! Everyone that can still move, get over here! We need to stay together!"

"Take up your weapons, they are coming!"

Gerald was awoken from his self-reflection by the loud shouts of soldiers around him. He slowly took a breath through his nose, his expression the peak of tranquility.

But as he opened his eyes, a boundless fire was roaring inside, just waiting for a release.

"To keep myself under control… Haha." He chuckled. It all shattered like glass.

Rationality? Gone!

Self-control? Gone!

Good intentions? Never heard of them.

His body started shaking. Mana was swirling wildly inside him, the wounds from the fight against the Sand Worm still there. Now the pain mixed with anger, excitement, happiness… An emotional disaster. It was a mess.

"Gerald, are you alright?" Dug noticed his weird actions. He appeared concerned for him even though they didn't know each other for long.

"Oh, yeah, I'm feeling great!" Gerald grinned, a crazy type of grin where his eyes were wide open, the white orbs on full display. Various hormones and chemicals were being pumped into his brain, like a homeless person on crack.

Nothing could beat the rush he felt just before a battle.

"I'm feeling FANTASTIC!" He roared and blasted upward like a rocket. A cackle escaped him as his grin expanded.

In mere seconds he reached the lip of the canyon, and an instant later he was already way above it all. He could see the Sand Walkers below, some of them preparing to blast off another chunk of the bedrock, others getting ready to head down as soon as they did so.

But then a flying lunatic with godly powers convinced them otherwise.

"Stop…!"

Boom!

"Messing…!"

Boom!

"With my…!"

Boom!

"PLANS!"

Broomboomboom!

Fireballs rained from the sky, each word emphasized by the sound of an explosion.

But instead of acting as a deterrent, the damn Sand Walkers took his attack as a challenge and fought back! Soon a mass of stone was flying toward him, courtesy of large-scale Earth magic.

"Damn you… Damn you all!" Gerald gave one last roar as he gathered the remains of his Mana and opened his palms wide, pointing them downward…

"Begone!"

… And released columns of flames strong enough to melt sand into glass.