...Two days?
Annan was sowhat surprised, "Has it really been that long?"
In Annan’s subjective ti, he had been in the dungeon for about three hours.
Was it because the previous two lives lasted too long? Or was it because...
"It’s because the flow of ti is different."
Salvatore yawned, laying his head on the table and explaining lazily with his eyes closed, "It’s like when you’re asleep, a single night’s dream might last several days... How long you stay in a nightmare isn’t strictly correlated with how much real-world ti has passed. Maybe you spend three days inside this ti, and only two days pass outside. Or next ti you might only spend half a day in the sa nightmare, but several hours have gone by outside..."
"But generally speaking, no matter when ordinary people enter nightmares, if they can’t bear it and fall into despair due to fear and despair, the curse of the nightmare will slowly extract their life force, and the nightmare itself will gradually grow stronger.
"Within the Order domains without the Mist, usually at dawn—when the Power of Order is at its strongest—the morning sunlight can temporarily disperse the nightmare, and people will wake up from it. But since the nightmare is still clinging to them and hasn’t been purified, they will enter the sa dream again co nightfall... Over ti, they will beco extrely weak..."
"So, when people’s understanding of Transcendent theory wasn’t thorough enough, these cursed and twisted mory fragnts that can attract souls were called nightmares by ancient peoples..."
As Salvatore spoke, his voice grew fainter and fainter, and he looked like he was about to fall asleep.
"Hey, wake up!"
Annan imdiately patted Salvatore’s shoulder, shaking him awake with force, "Don’t fall asleep! Wake up!"
He rembered that the Curse Binding Salvatore bore seed to be related to sleep...
"Hm? Did I almost fall asleep just now?"
After waking up, Salvatore straightened up with so vigilance, standing up from the stool, "Thanks, Tan Juan. You just saved my life..."
"It’s because you were waiting for that you didn’t sleep at all."
Annan sighed, "Did you think I would wake up yesterday?"
"Yeah, we didn’t expect you could stay in the nightmare for so long."
Salvatore nodded without any pretense.
As he lightly jogged in place against the desk to wake himself up, he continued intermittently, "That’s why we had you enter the nightmare in the morning... so you would have the most ti to properly explore the nightmare.
"But when you hadn’t woken up yesterday morning, Tan Juan, I realized you had the priest’s gift... but we had no idea when you would wake up, and neither did the priest. So we could only watch over you. After all, the advancent ritual isn’t the sa as a normal nightmare... If you forget to bring a vessel to bear the curse, the power of the curse you bring out from the nightmare could easily dissipate and could form a new nightmare in the town..."
"It’s been tough on you, senior."
Annan, upon hearing this, expressed his gratitude to Salvatore.
Whether it was helping him or helping Frostwater Harbor, strictly speaking, Salvatore wouldn’t get much out of it. He was about to leave Frostwater Harbor and return to the Black Tower to advance. Even if new nightmares appeared in Frostwater Harbor later, it would have nothing to do with him.
He was acting out of the sa goodwill and sense of responsibility that Priest Louis held in his heart.
"You should also thank Priest Louis."
Salvatore cleared his throat and added, "Right now, you’re still growing, and not eating anything for two days while comatose is very bad for your health. Priest Louis took responsibility for replenishing your bodily nutrients these past two days... Of course, you should also thank . After all, I was the one paying your dical bills."
"Thank you, senior. I will also thank Priest Louis later."
Annan thanked Salvatore without hesitation and with great earnestness, "I’m really grateful for you helping and the people under my care."
He was never one to shy away from expressing thanks.
Whatever he "should do," Annan always did well—whether it was giving thanks or apologizing at the appropriate ti was naturally no exception.
But seeing Annan’s straightforward and earnest thanks, Salvatore felt sowhat embarrassed.
He coughed again, leaning against the table pretending to drink water, and took a random sip from his tea cup.
Then, looking out the window with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, Salvatore said, "For , it’s what I should do. But it’s rare for you nobles to offer sincere thanks."
"We Transcendents, having stolen our power from curses, naturally must take the corresponding asures. At the very least, we cannot let curses overflow and harm innocent people... If there’s anything we can do to help, we’ll help; if there’s soone innocent who needs assistance, we’ll lend a hand.
"Although I personally consider my moral standards to be average, and cannot compare to those saints who received transcendent powers for the purpose of helping the weak and upholding justice, and I often have selfish thoughts and occasionally use my power to gain so small advantages. But we are, after all, Transcendents of proper origin, and we must adhere to the rules that ought to be followed.
"This is for everyone, but also for oneself. Just as it says in the ’Transcendent Declaration’..."
The man, with a tired face and lean figure, chuckled softly and recited in a solemn, dignified tone:
"’From this day forth, I shall bear my own curse, guard others’ secrets, keep my personal oaths, and follow our common rules. As it is today, so shall it be in the future.’ You haven’t forgotten this, have you, Tan Juan?"
"I understand..."
Annan nodded slowly, his relaxed expression gradually becoming serious.
He placed his right hand lightly over his chest, his ice-blue eyes slightly widened as he looked at Salvatore.
He responded earnestly and solemnly, "I rember."
Upon hearing Salvatore’s words, Annan felt a vague sense of resonance in his heart.
Since his arrival in this world, he had not had many encounters with living Transcendents.
It was only after hearing Salvatore’s words that Annan began to form a faint concept of the Transcendent society in this world—
A world with a sowhat gloomy and subdued color sche, but definitely not dark and lightless.
And a group of secret-keepers, burdened with curses, bound by oaths, following the rules, silently walking their own paths.
A group of people who are alone but not lonely.
"Alright," Salvatore said cheerfully, "it’s ti you tell your Curse Binding. I shall be your secret-keeper."
"Should I just say it outright?"
"Yes, at least for now, there are no particular considerations for you."
Salvatore smiled and added, "Of course, just rember not to casually beco the secret-keeper for a Gold-ranked Transcendent. If possible, it’s best to keep your distance, not even to inquire about them, let alone let them know your na, and certainly not to perform rituals with them or recite their nas in nightmares.
"After all, Transcendents of that level can scarcely be considered human anymore."
Scarcely be considered human... what does that an?
A wave of confusion and puzzlent washed over Annan.
But he rely made a ntal note of this question, opting not to ask about it at this mont.
He thought over his own Curse Binding and told Salvatore the gist of it: "My Curse Binding is that I must kill soone with a kitchen knife every month."
No sooner had he spoken than a new prompt crossed his vision:
[Secret Oath Established]
[Current Oaths Established: 1]
Is that... considered complete?
Annan was slightly startled.
A thought suddenly crossed his mind—
If I tell all the players about my oath... wouldn’t I imdiately gain a bunch of secret-keepers? Since the players inherently must protect the ’camp leader’, there’s no need to worry about them targeting .
That’s akin to being given a bunch of secret-keepers for free!
...So, what if the players spread this information back in their world, through the internet?
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