“I believe I mentioned that…” Raven replied.
Helena cocked her head.
“It’s Northern’s best bet at leaving this place unharmed.”
Helena was silent for a while. She then chuckled deviously and shifted her focus to Northern.
“You know of a safe way out of this cursed continent, and you’re going to keep its existence a secret and give it to Northern.” She glared at him.
“Revealing the existence of a flying ship could cause a civil war between both strongholds. That is one thing we cannot afford right now.”
She paused and continued.
“Moreover, I want to believe there is a cruel reason why the Luinngard Empire is not letting people into their country. It’s obvious they know they are our best bet at getting out of this damned place, but yet they do not grant us access. What if they hear about the ship and it becomes a threat to them?”
Helena lingered for a while and nodded subtly.
“Your thinking is sound there… No good will come from revealing it to the public.”
Raven turned her eyes to Northern and added:
“Besides, I believe Northern more than anyone deserves a way out of this desolation. He has had it rough, although we have too, but at the very least we had each other to rely on. Who knows what being alone has done to him?” Her eyes turned somber at the end.
Northern seethed inwardly.
‘I feel very pissed being pitied by this girl… for some reason, all her words are sounding condescending.’
Helena looked at him, puzzled, but she shrugged and said:
“If you say so… but I’ll say this. You see Northern, one thing I hate is that the principal was right about – this hellhole is a furnace that would forge you into your best version… why not get stronger before returning?”
Northern narrowed his eyes.
“Every corner here looms with death. You do know that rifts are also in the Central Plains. I can go back and get stronger safely.”
Helena’s face became somber.
“I see… that’s it, huh?”
A frown creased Northern’s face.
“That’s what? What?”
Helena looked away from him with no response, causing Northern to persist.
“What do you mean by that?”
Something about the last look she gave him was unsettling.
“Are you judging me?” He yelled.
“Judging you? Nope, not at all,” Helena looked at him and continued, “We are in a hellhole, flower boy. Everyone is allowed to have fears and allowed to choose to run away from those fears or fight them.”
She paused and looked at Northern… her eyes somber again.
“I’ve never seen someone pretending they don’t exist…trying so hard to hide them with logic. I thought you were impressive earlier, but it seems I was mistaken. With all that strength, is this how weak your mentality is?
“Have you ever thought about what happens next after you reach the Central Plains? What will the principal do? Or what will people do? Will you be accepted or will you have to fight for your place… which would be much easier if you just exercise patience and grow stronger here.”
Northern’s frown deepened.
“Don’t do that! Don’t act like you know me or you’re some expert at reading people! Don’t do that because you don’t know what I’ve lived through to be alive…”
“And what would a few more times give… why do you have to be so guarded about your fears? You don’t have to block them out like they don’t exist. You’re scared of dying. You want to get your butt out of here as soon as you can, go back to the embrace of your parents, live your life like a normal kid, just like you’ve always imagined… and flower boy, there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re young, heck, are you even eighteen yet?”
Northern felt a bitter pang in his throat.
Helena was talking to him as if she thought he was eighteen years old at best.
But in reality, his mentality, at least up until now, was supposed to be much older – as old as hers.
It stung hard.
Hiding his fears?
Pretending they don’t exist?
He had no fears!
However, right now, even Northern was having a hard time believing that himself.
Even though he had gained tremendous strength, had the events in the rift traumatized him more than he expected?
He thought he was fine.
But all the while, was he pretending to himself? Thinking that going home was the only way out of this hell?
He wanted to survive. Sure. Yes.
But did it have to be by running away…?
Northern frowned and dropped his head, clenching his fists tightly and saying nothing.
The others stared silently at him.
After a couple of minutes, it was starting to get a bit awkward among the group.
But Helena turned towards the direction of the tall tower that usually served as a compass of sorts for her during her travels.
Her eyes, however, plunged much farther than that.
She pointed forward and said:
“We are going still far, you see those backdrop of mountains marking the horizon we are looking at right now.”
She looked back over her shoulder and grinned.
“That will be the beginning of our journey.”
She then turned around fully, was silent for a while, and then looked at Northern.
“Look, I’d advise you to go back at this point. You’re probably just better off somewhere safe… okay, maybe you don’t know how perilous this journey is about to get.”
She inhaled and exhaled.
“I’ll tell you. You see, the map would have provided us with diverse travel options and ways to choose, since it has every area marked out… our travel would have been relatively safe…” she paused, “at least with the map we would choose and know the danger we are walking into. But without it, we just have to confront whatever hits us.”
She looked deeper into his eyes.
“So this could actually be the most dangerous situation you have ever ventured into… perhaps even far more dangerous than you have ever faced. The Sleeping Mountains is the location of the last cardinal rift… and it’s a tier IV rift.”
She paused for a second and continued.
“I suppose the rift you entered was something around that level… but don’t be quick to judge rifts. The tier system is just based on soul essence readings. What you could meet inside could be way more dangerous than anything you’ve faced. So, you’d be foolish to think you can take it on… just because you have before.”
She put her arms akimbo.
“Actually, I think you’re better off leaving. What do you say? Wanna crawl back to your hole, flower boy?”