Nefer finally came to a stop, lowering her sword as she exhaled deeply. Her muscles, honed from relentless training, barely trembled despite the grueling session she had just endured. The desert sun still blazed high above them, merciless in its intensity. The cracked and barren land beneath their feet seemed almost molten under its fierce glare, the occasional heat haze distorting the distant horizon.
Massa, who had been watching silently, summoned another pill from her soul sea—the same kind she had given Hope earlier. Without hesitation, Nefer took it, placing it on her tongue and swallowing it dry. There was no reluctance in her movements, only quiet efficiency.
For a moment, silence stretched between them, only the soft whisper of the wind disturbing the stillness. Then, without warning, Nefer turned to Hope.
"What do you know about The Veil?"
Hope blinked. He hadn't expected the sudden question.
"Me?" he asked, pointing to himself.
Nefer's expression remained impassive, but the slight narrowing of her eyes told him that she was unimpressed by the unnecessary clarification.
"Who else would I be referring to?" her gaze seemed to say.
Hope scratched the back of his head, shifting slightly against the crumbling stone he leaned on.
"Umm," he started, searching his memory. "According to the academy, The Veil was discovered about 150 years ago, when people who seemingly died suddenly came back again after some time—with powers. Although... not all of them returned."
Nefer crossed her arms, her piercing gaze unwavering.
"That's all?"
Hope shrugged. "That's the basic stuff, yeah."
Nefer sighed, shaking her head slightly. "You're a strange one, Hopeless," she muttered.
Hope smirked but said nothing.
"You seem not to have any use for soul cores," Nefer continued. "While other Awakened and Veil-Chosen must absorb the soul cores of Veil creatures to grow stronger, you…" She trailed off, watching him intently.
Hope let out a quiet chuckle. "Maybe I'm just special. Who knows?"
Nefer raised a skeptical eyebrow, making him grin.
For a moment, she seemed to consider something before shifting her gaze toward the endless, desolate horizon.
"You know," she said, her voice taking on a wistful tone. "Before The Veil, the world was different. There were beautiful creatures—creatures that are nothing like the horrors we know now."
Hope tilted his head slightly. "Beautiful creatures?"
She nodded. "Butterflies. Birds. Cats. You name them."
Hope frowned slightly. "And how do you know all this?"
"I read a lot of history books," Nefer replied simply. "When The Veil descended and its creatures attacked Earth, the animals weren't spared either. Those that weren't killed outright were either marked or corrupted."
Hope folded his arms, his expression thoughtful.
"Marked?"
"They changed," she said, her tone grim. "Some mutated beyond recognition, their bodies twisted into things that shouldn't exist. Others simply… vanished. Some say they were pulled into the Soulrealm, but no one really knows for sure. What we do know is that the natural world was never the same again."
Hope exhaled. "That's a lot to take in."
Nefer nodded. "I just regret that I never got to see them—the real animals. I might have loved them, you know? Now, I can only see their pictures in old books."
Hope regarded her for a moment before responding, his voice laced with dry amusement.
"Don't worry. You'll see plenty of creatures. Just not the kind you'd want to pet."
Nefer smirked slightly, but there was a shadow of something unreadable in her eyes.
Hope leaned back again, stretching out his legs. If he were alive during the time of domestic animals, would he have cared for them? Probably not. He would have been too busy trying to stay alive. Hell, he was certain that if he had ever encountered a cat or dog in his past life, he would've ended up eating it.
The thought made him chuckle to himself.
Nefer's gaze flicked to him. "What's funny?"
"Nothing," Hope said with a slight grin.
A thought suddenly struck him.
"If all the animals were either wiped out or corrupted, why did rats survive?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
He had eaten a lot of them back in the outskirts. Tough, scrawny things, but they had kept him alive when there was nothing else.
Nefer shrugged, a rare hint of amusement dancing in her otherwise serious gaze.
"Maybe rats were just being rats."
Hope chuckled again. "Figures."
A comfortable silence settled between them.
The world had changed. Mutated. Twisted.
But somehow, rats had outlived everything else.