Caelum slowly opened his eyes, using his right hand to clear the dust from his face.
As his eyesight gradually improved, he saw two figures standing above him: one smiling as if he had just discovered gold, while the other maintained a straight face, resting his axe on his shoulder.
However, he paid them no attention, even choosing to ignore them.
His eyes widened when he shifted his gaze to his side, only to see that his left hand was intact. He had no wounds on his body, and his tattered clothing remained, though it had worsened after two months underground.
Nevertheless, he was unaware that he had spent so much time there.
He smiled, touching his head and confirming that it was still in place.
"Oh, any wounds inflicted on you during the first fate, no matter how serious, won't appear on your actual body; all of it are just mere fictions in reality," the shorter man explained, suspecting that this was what Caelum was concerned about based on his reaction.
Then, Caelum recalled that two people were actually standing in front of him.
"...And who are you two?" he politely asked, scratching the back of his head and staring at them.
The shorter man shuddered.
"Forgive our rudeness, my name is Philip, and this grumpy old man here is Daniel—Mr Daniel, if you please." He gestured towards the middle-aged man standing beside him.
Calling him an old man made Mr Daniel furious.
"Who are you calling 'old'? Are you yearning for a grave?"
Philip ignored him and turned to ask what the young man's name was.
Caelum hesitated for a moment, but soon replied, "Caelum..."
A drop of water fell onto his cheek, followed by a rumble of thunder, now near, as lightning flashed, brightening the sky and surroundings for a moment before turning black once again.
"It's here, the rain. We will explain who we are on the way. Just to clarify, we're also like you— Graceless ones," Philip said, offering Caelum a hand to help him up from the grave.
He accepted the hand and rose to his feet, dusting off his shoulders.
"I'm really interested in hearing about your adventure in your subconscious fallen land," Philip inquired, leading Caelum along with Mr Daniel out of the graveyard.
He threw the stone he had recently painted red onto the ground and joined his palms together.
In a moment, more drops of rain began to fall from the sky, hitting the ground and quickly gathering into a heavy shower.
Outside the graveyard, a carriage was waiting. There were no horses or horsemen to ride it; it seemed to move on its own, compelled by magic for certain.
...
Couple of minutes later, the three were already on the road, the sound of the carriage's wheels swallowed by the heavy downpour outside.
Caelum sat on one side of the carriage while the two men sat on the other.
Mr Daniel focused intently on Caelum, while Philip cleared his throat, looking away from a corner of the carriage where he had been previously distracted.
He was about to start questioning Caelum, who was busy wondering where they were going.
Of course, he had trust issues, but at this point, he had to compel himself to place faith in himself, not them. The two men noticed that Caelum didn't entirely trust them and felt uneasy.
In fact, anyone with common sense, even without trust issues, would have similar thoughts.
But what choice did he have at this moment?
And again, for the few minutes they had been together, the two hadn't made any strange moves.
"So, Calom..." Philip mispronounced Caelum's name, prompting an immediate correction from the young man.
"It's 'Caelum', not 'Calom'."
"Apologies, I seem to have made a mistake. Caelum, right?" Philip asked, chuckling.
The young man nodded as the downpour outside gradually intensified while they rode on.
"How was the First Fate? Congratulations on taming your First Fate, by the way! It took you quite a short while, if I may say..."
Caelum was about to feel proud; he believed he had only spent a few hours taming his First Fate. Perhaps for others it took longer, so he thought he might be the special one. However, he had yet to hear anything from the inferno.
Then Philip added, "It took you exactly two months. You were first rescued by Mr Daniel from having your body burned, and then we buried you in the old graveyard. Anyway, that short time makes you one of the top three to tame your First Fate in such a brief period. You're precisely Number 2 on that list."
Caelum's body recoiled in shock. He wondered if he had heard Philip correctly—two months? In what?
This is intricately tied to the Graceless End curse, which distorts the perception of time within the subconscious mind. When Caelum entered this altered state, the curse created a simulated environment that warped his sense of reality.
It transported him into his subconscious, but in a way that the normal rules of time do not apply.
In this space, time is subjective and can stretch or compress based on the emotions and psychological state of the individual.
"The Graceless End curse heightens emotions such as fear, anxiety, or even pride, which can significantly alter one's perception of time. For you, the intense experiences you may have faced in this realm might have felt like moments of struggle and triumph, leading you to perceive them as fleeting hours rather than extended months," Philip explained.
Caelum rested back against the cushioned seating in the carriage. This was somehow marvellous; he would never have thought he had spent so much time in his subconscious.
The Graceless End curse temporarily traps its victims in a cycle of self-discovery and torment, prolonging their suffering while simultaneously making them believe they are progressing quickly.
"This duality serves to deepen the psychological impact of the curse, making the eventual awakening all the more jarring..." Philip continued. "You may be wondering why your body also didn't rot. Precisely, it's because your life force was still present; therefore, it preserved your body's core and skin, leaving you as fresh as you ever were."
The shock of learning that two months had passed created a profound sense of disbelief. The curse ensures that the transition back to reality is abrupt.
"Now since we are off that, how was your First Fate? It seemed you lost a lot of body parts, judging by your reaction when you woke up," Mr Daniel finally spoke, using his axe as a resting stick, placing it straight on the ground.
Caelum cleared his throat.
"Sincerely, I... uhh... lost my left hand, took a whole lot of injuries from head to toe, was stabbed multiple times by some red beings, defeated a Corrupted Beast, and a Monki in two forms. It took quite a lot from me to take down that Monki..." He stopped there, not bothering to go into further details.
"Wow, astonishing. You fought with an actual Monki. Was it your first biggest mistake or your third?" Philip asked.
"...First biggest mistake," Caelum reluctantly answered.
Mr Daniel burst into laughter, a bit of confusion crossing Caelum's face.
"Lad, you actually haven't made that much of a mistake then. I don't want to say much, but a Monki is typically weak compared to anything I've faced.
"Throughout my three runs, I faced Aspire-ranked monsters. I lost my left eye, then half of my left arm, and a hole was created in my leg during the last fight. But at least I won and didn't die before the enemy. And I used a very short time to achieve all that..."
It was obvious he was lying during that last sentence; even Caelum could notice this.
Philip broke in with laughter, placing a hand on Mr Daniel's shoulder.
"He did use a short time—one that accumulated to eight months. Hahaha!"
Caelum scoffed silently.
'Obvious liar...'
Mr Daniel grunted, "At least I received a gift: the Dark Axe."
Then he glanced at the axe in his hand.
Caelum's interest was piqued. "You received that from the Inferno?"
He gave a long stare at the cool axe; it was quite attractive to the eye.
Mr Daniel held his axe tightly, pride overwhelming his face. He raised his head and breathed deeply.
Philip was the one who answered the question Caelum had asked. "Yes, I suppose you're yet to hear anything from the Inferno... soon, in a few minutes. It uses only one hour after your awakening to reality."
If so, that means it remains exactly 20 minutes until the Inferno appears.
"Also, what's your Thraxs?" Philip asked, his curiosity stirred.
The storm unleashed its fury. Lightning flashed across the sky in jagged arcs, revealing the surroundings for a brief moment, the branches of trees and the glistening raindrops.
The rumble of thunder followed, a deep growl. It rolled in waves.
The rain poured down in heavy sheets, drumming against the roof of the carriage.
Inside, the three exchanged glances, light briefly crossing their faces.