"So, this guy you're looking for, is he your little brother?"
"No," Esme responded, another conversation stopper. The muscular male was trying to strike up a chat with her, but all his attempts were falling flat.
He frowned. "So he's your boyfriend?" he asked.
The one who carried himself as a scholar occasionally turned to observe Esme, her blade, and most of her movements.
He had trust issues with her, especially after what he had observed earlier.
He also understood why his muscular friend was crazy about her, not every day a blue-haired, ice-cold beauty walks with them.
"So how do you know of Aethernox anyway? Are you from the academy as well?" the scholar asked.
For all he knew, Esme didn't care about anyone, a trait of a fallen primordial.
These were secret academies of villains, just like the Nether Academy, but in contrast to what they did.
The Fallen Academy aimed at uncovering forbidden parts and knowledge of the Origin.
Some said a fallen primordial had corrupted them into securing his escape from the Origin.
Regardless...
Esme kept up her silent treatment. The scholar then faked a warm smile. "I was only asking 'cause we've arrived."
From the cliff they stood on, the ones there had set up tents, having waited for a while.
"Just an hour left before we move," said the scholar.
As they came down, Esme looked around, hoping she'd see Neo.
But she couldn't sense the faint presence he usually gave off. Esme sighed.
When she turned to leave, the scholar pulled her back again. Esme quickly shrugged his hand aside.
"Where are you going?" he asked, his usual welcoming tone replaced with a skeptical one.
Then the incoming group stole both their attention.
Some were badly wounded. It was Sunny's group.
"What happened?" the muscular one asked the senior who led the group.
He closed his eyes. "The cliff split in two, and the others were trapped. I don't think they'll survive."
"Was Neo with you?" Esme asked, drawing everyone's gaze.
"Who?" the injured senior asked. Then he recalled how Neo had foolishly leaped back instead. "Yes, that boy is sick in the head. He personally chose to be trapped," he added.
Perplexed, Esme wondered if that was true. Clearly, Neo had said he'd do anything to stay safe earlier.
"I need to find the fountain." When they heard the location, the students gasped.
Esme, having no idea where that was, found herself under hostile glances.
"I knew it, you're one of them," said the scholar.
Esme raised an eyebrow. Obviously, they weren't going to help her.
Even the muscular guy who once admired her looked away.
"Hey, get the fu—"
But when Esme turned to leave, the scholar immediately regretted his next action.
He stretched out his hand to stop her, but just inches from her shoulder, cold ice crawled through his entire arm, nearly cracking his bone.
He yelled as if a force was pulling his arm from his body, and everyone moved away from Esme.
Since they weren't going to answer her, she'd find the fountain herself.
After all, from Aethernox's point, she knew the map as if it were right in front of her.
"Neo," she whispered, staring at the sky. He was all she could think of right now.
"She won't have enough time to find any sanctuary. She's going to die, all because of that guy? He really is her boyfriend, isn't he?" the muscular one smirked.
Then he did something his friends didn't expect.
"Hey, ice princess, wait up." He ran after Esme, even though she didn't stop or look back.
"Paul, get the fuck back here!" yelled the scholar. His arm still hurt so badly that it made him fall to his knees, otherwise he would have run to stop his best friend.
In the end, Paul stopped and smiled. He said nothing, only tightened his fist before giving a thumbs up.
---
"I know how to get there," he said.
Hearing that, the senior held back his tears. When he saw it was Neo who had spoken, he paused.
The senior couldn't say a word and just kept staring at Neo, so someone else took the mantle of leadership.
It was a fat, gullible boy. "How?" he asked.
Neo knew exactly where this place was, the Ashfall Mountain, but whenever he tried to think of the route to the fountain, he forgot.
Neo sighed. It was the effect of the Ymir map.
"Does anyone have a book?" Neo asked. He hadn't expected one in the Origin; however, a girl brought out a book and a pen from her side pouch.
"Try not to imagine anyone in it," she said to Neo.
Perplexed, Neo wondered why she would say something like that, but upon looking at the book more carefully, he recognized it.
She was an awakened, and the book was a relic that supported her abilities, a death pen and a notebook.
Simply imagining someone in it would kill that person with a drop of the wielder's blood.
Even imagining the person alone would reveal faint traces of their image.
If only she had been alive in the novel, she would have become a problem.
"Here." Neo ripped out a piece of the book and drew the map. He made sure to bypass Aethernox and retained every single location.
The gullible boy stared at the map. He passed it around for everyone to see. "Does it look familiar to anyone?" he asked.
But nobody had any idea, even if it was the original map.
This group was not even fit to survive.
"Wait, you can't possibly trust a villain's son," the senior finally said.
More than half of the people knew Neo very well, infamously known as the pampered one.
Still, the map he drew was better than nothing. Even if it wasn't correct, they believed they'd eventually come across someone from the academy.
Neo looked at the senior and sighed. "This is the Ashfall Mountain. The black gorilla king lives on top of this mountain, and he climbs down every night to feed," he said. "Those rocks didn't fall on their own."
"That doesn't mean we should trust you."
"Senior is right. His mom has killed many people, only God knows how he was brought up," said a male.
"Yes, I think we should just figure out something else on our own," a female added.
Neo paused. He was losing the argument. However, he just needed one person, not necessarily all.
Neo exhaled slowly. "Then stay here and die," he said, his voice calm but firm. "I'm leaving."
Silence.
"Fuck you all, didn't you hear the part about a beast? Gimme the fucking map." The gullible boy forcefully took the map.
"His mom is evil, not him. He's weak, what's he going to do to us?"
He looked around at them, frustrated.
"And think about it, he hasn't been here before. Why would he lead us somewhere bad when he doesn't even know this place himself?"
His voice rose.
"Are you guys even thinking at all?"
"Or maybe he's just leading us straight to our deaths," another male muttered, folding his arms.
"We don't even know if that map is real," a girl added, her voice uncertain.
Soon after, Neo heard murmurs. They began reasoning with what the gullible boy said, he did have a point.
"...He's right," someone finally said.
"We can't just stay here."
"Even if it's risky..."
"It's still better than waiting to die."
The senior blinked, the drastic turn of the situation leaving him speechless. Then he saw someone in front of him.
Neo stretched out his palm. "If we hurry, we can still make it to Aethernox."
Everyone's gaze pressured him, so he finally relented. "Fine," he said weakly.