The following Day, with Gius skipping the personality test, he immediately took focus on the anxiety test, which was a physical-related test, and not question based.
Liam was able to recover to a point where he can now walk again, having the mind of a matured man but the body of a child was still a problem for him, with his height being a little shorter than his former height.
The test was held on the mansion’s grounds, Gius intensively focused his attention only to Liam and his reactions, while they walked on the mansion’s grounds, Gius would interrupt Liam and would ask him several questions that were either related to him and his sickness or just random filler questions to confuse him.
Hence the point of the anxiety test, it was all test to find an anxious response from him, such as hesitation, nervousness, and worrisome, along with being too tensed.
“Come to think of it, isn’t it a fine day, Liam?”
As the two men walked alone on the dirt road, Gius commented about today’s weather, to which Liam replied immediately, and in a composed manner, even his eye movement, body language and expression were controlled, they were all composed.
“Yes, Sir Gius, I must say it’s a fine day to take a walk.” Liam replied courteously towards Gius, which made Gius smile in response, Gius being educated in a prestigious school for doctors knows how important manners and actions were towards another.
And moreover, he was a psychiatrist, it was his daily life to monitor the movement of another’s to determine their current moods, feelings or problems, so being responded back in a courteous way made him remember his medical school days.
“Ahahah, Yes, it is, Liam.” The two conversed in an informal manner, and moreover they weren’t tightly guarded, as part of the anxiety test was to find an anxiety-related response on the patient, if the patient knows that he is being protected then it is only right for him to act composed, since he is protected by guards after all.
That’s why the two were now alone, Gius and Liam only, even Benjamin, a former assassin and was mostly a personal guard for the family wasn’t invited, they had to make an anxiety filled atmosphere, where Fear and nervousness takes over, that is the very reason of the test.
Although Gius already had a conclusion concerning Liam’s mental illness, he still needed the concrete and absolute proof he needed to obtain, and that concrete proof is somewhere inside the last test, the anxiety test, once Gius sees his answer, he can finally reach a conclusion for his sponsor, the Patient’s father, Baronet William Fretz.
“About your past, Liam, can you tell me more about it?”
“I’ve already repeated it you several times, right?” Liam responded in an annoyed manner towards Gius, who looked at him in a confused manner, as if he just recently forgot about their earlier conversations.
“Jeez, you should at least reply respectfully, I mean, can’t you at least tell me a story?”
“No.” Liam replied to Gius childish request.
Currently, Liam who had the mind and memory of his past, wasn’t all too energetic with such a test, walking on the mansion grounds in the hot sunny day with a slightly suffocating temperature, without any bodyguards, and alone with just his psychiatrist.
While it was true that it was like an anxiety induced test, it also had cons, while Gius was as childish as he was during their first days, Liam who had the mind of his past self, was wary of him, who wouldn’t be wary with such a person.
“How about you, Sir Gius, you’ve been asking me a lot about my past, shouldn’t I only rightfully ask for yours too?” Liam made a request to Gius, who immediately looked at Liam in a detestful manner but it was only for a brief second as it returned back to his normal childish expression, for the normal child or average human, it was too quick of a change to even be perceptible, but to Liam who had experience in the Political world in the past, saw that expression.
It made him a more reason to be more wary of him, since one of his greatest enemies during the past, was a notorious serial Killer situated in the empire, he murdered basically everybody, from children to adults, but before killing them, he would always mutilate their body and eat their skins or organs as if a native cannibal.
But one distinct feature about the killer, was that he was a psychiatrist, using mind games and deception to elude capture numerous times from the hands of the Imperial Authority, Liam who was the Head of the Public Safety Ministry had to be involved just for his capture, which finally ended in 3 years after Liam joined the case, with his total murders reaching 219 victims, most were teenagers.
He wasn’t a mage, a reason that made him a harder target for the police force to capture, all they had to use were clues and investigations, to which one of Liam’s subordinates started a reform on the police force in the near future, it was to not be too dependent in magic as a primary use.
“W-why, are you asking me that question, Liam? Shouldn’t you be the one who answers my questions?” Gius tried averting the question by making another question, but Liam wanted an answer, so he pried further.
“But, Sir Gius, although I may be a child, I also want to know who I talk too, Afterall, my parents said to not trust or talk to strangers, and sure, you may be licensed Psychiatrist, but is that really all that meets the eyes?” Liam said with a skeptical tone towards Gius who was pushed to a corner.
But he immediately retaliated with a smile and said.
“Fine…” Gius sighed before looking at Liam whilst smiling.
“I love my mother, and my mother loves me, she supports me when I was in an all-time low, she gives me what I need and not what I want, just like me, She values manners and courtesy while with others.”
Gius bluntly replied to Liam’s question, whilst it wasn’t a complete nor thorough story, it was more or less relating towards his past, which made Liam drop his guard down, but there was more.
“She would always tell me to try my best, she would always reward me if do something good, she was very supportive when I entered the Medical academy, she was also proud when I graduated.”
Gius cried in a melancholic way, wiping his tears before saying while crying.
“I truly love my mother, I’m glad she was my mother.”
This ultimately made Liam drop lower his wariness towards Gius, whom he thought was just a normal young psychiatrist, although he barely knew of his past, Gius being a psychiatrist made him prone to crying with others, mostly relating to other’s depressing story about their life.
Him being emotional with his memory with his mother is only right, Liam hearing this and having the mind of his past self, averted his eyes away from the crying Gius and looked before their path.
As Gius recomposed himself to an acceptable manner, he made a sudden question towards Liam.
“That forest, is that part of the Mansion’s grounds?”
“Well, not yet, although my father owns that land, it still hasn’t been cleared due to budget constraint.”
Liam replied to Gius question, but that was an obvious lie, his past life barely held any memories of his youth, and Liam didn’t actually knew if that was their family’s land or if it wasn’t owned yet.
“Are you scared of forests? and jungles?” Gius then again made a sudden questioned towards Liam, Gius expected a anxiety-related expression from Liam, but only replied in a blank manner.
“Well… it depends.”
What? aren’t you scared of getting lost? You little brat, why do you have to make this harder for me. Gius lamented asking the question, but immediately, an idea struck his mind, he stopped in his tracks, which made Liam confused, Gius then rotated his body towards the forest, he then looked at Liam and said.
“Well, let’s see, a forest has many fears that it can give to its travelers, I want to see, Liam, what must it depend on?” Gius made a dubious smile for a brief second before starting to walk towards the Forest.
Liam looked at their surroundings and noticed that he lacked bodyguards, and moreover his physical abilities still hasn’t been practiced nor honed, so he can’t defend himself in times of need, but he slightly trusted Gius, and moreover, he also wanted an answer to his mental health, something he wanted to know in his past.
“Wait for me!” Liam called out to Gius who soon waited from him in front of the deep and thick vegetated forest.
Before Liam could reach Gius, Gius already entered the forest, which promptly made Liam run towards inside the vegetated forest, the two soon met each other and toured the forest in an inexplicably manner.
After an hour or so of Gius asking Liam the usual questions while walking through the forest, the mood and atmosphere suddenly became dark, as Gius asked a quite dark question towards Liam.
“Liam, what do you think of your parents.”
Liam was hesitant to reply, having the mind of his past self, and that past self’s mind having a severe mental illness, one of its symptoms was him unable to remember much about his youth, let alone his parents, which he almost forgot when he became an adult.
“They’re… Fine.” Liam without having any expectable answers, decided to reply to it anyways, it wasn’t like a child’s response but either way, Gius seemed to accept it.
“Liam, have you ever tried putting yourself in one’s shoes?” Gius questioned Liam.
What Gius meant by putting Liam in another’s shoes, meant that if he has ever seen something in another point of view, this question made Liam silent, as even in his past life, he hadn’t put his shoes in another’s.
He was the son of a wealthy baronet, but they weren’t too rich, he had the average lifestyle, he had a loving family, a good future, and even a set life, more or less.
“I haven’t felt it…”
“Ah, just like the other’s then.”
Gius lamented questioning Liam by such a common remark, he looked on the ground as the two walked through the forest, Gius then asked another question to Liam.
“But, do you think, that society is like the mind? The mind has their own uses and hierarchy, just like society, do you follow it? While it may not be a fact, for me, it’s just a mere theory, well, at least for now.”
Liam was taken aback, why such a question? Liam was still 12, yet he had the mind of a 60 or so man, was he somewhat expecting a mature response? Liam was in a state of confusion, he didn’t know if it was part of a test, or it was an actual question that was related to society and the mind.
Liam himself wasn’t very particular about the mind and its parts, all he did know that memories fuel emotions, that was about as far as he could get, since he experienced that first hand during his past, sudden memories of his past even his recent actions made his emotions fuel up in rage, loathing, depression, even forlorn, just by such memories his mind collapsed to the point he ordered and committed several unnecessary and needless actions.
But as Liam was too deep in thought, Gius unexpectedly added.
“But what if there are multiple societies? Like a nation of sorts? The effect can be neither positive or negative, because, it all depends on those minds, the heads of state to decide.”
What?... Liam suddenly questioned Gius abrupt personality change, from his childish actions to a now more serious action.
“W-what do you mean?” Asked Liam in a very confused manner.
“I’m saying…”
As Gius talked he suddenly rotated his body and punched Liam’s face in a direct and swift manner, Liam was unable to react by such swift surprise attack, ultimately forcing his entire body to fall in one entire swoop, it was a sucker punch, a punch made for surprise attacks.
“Hooo…” Gius sighed as he flapped the very hand he used against Liam, Liam fell on the ground distraught and scared, he had the mind of old man, a powerful sword master and even a mage, yet the body he held, the mana reserves he had, the strength he had, it was barely even a percent of his old abilities, given the current conditions, Liam was at the disadvantage,
“You know full well, what I’m talking about dear Liam…” Gius smiled as he looked at Liam in a sinister manner, Liam knowing full well his old strength was gone, and he even had the body of a mere child, immediately began losing his breathing stability, whilst he felt his heart started to beat as fast as he possibly could feel.
As Gius reached the confused and frightened Liam, he immediately crouched on the same height as him, and gave a wicked smile to Liam, who, in turn, had his eyes wide open, while Liam himself wasn’t particularly scared about him, he was only scared about his loss of powers and inability to retaliate.
To Liam, He could only dub Gius somebody along the lines of…
“Call me a Coward, I won’t deny it, but can you really call me a coward?... My entire life was a fight! That I couldn’t run away from! Do you understand me Liam!?”
Gius immediately yelled towards Liam as he held his shirt’s collar, he then pushed Liam’s body on the ground, and gave a depressing smile with tears falling down on his eyes, as he gave such a depressing smile towards Liam, Gius then added.
“You need to understand me…” he said with such a forlorn tone, as if he was an abandoned child.
“you must understand me~!” Gius yelled his last sentence before releasing several punches directly to Liam’s face, lethal or not, all of Gius’s punches were only focused on his face, as he gave each punch, he released a sorrowful breath of air, because whilst giving the punches, he cried, each punch Gius gave was equivalent to a tear.
“I’m Sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” he cried several times, before finally stopping, Gius looked at Liam’s unconscious, bleeding face, his entire face was covered in swollen bruises, Gius then laughed at Liam.
Gius laughed as he also cried, with mixed emotions he kneeled in despair on the dirt ground, looking on the carnage he had just done, he then punched himself to fix attitude and personality, the punch was enough to recompose himself, soon he gathered the courage and dragged the unconscious Liam on the ground, away from the forest, mansion's grounds, and the Baronetcy's territory.
