Chapter 127
Death path
Vanessa continued, her voice calm but laced with coldness. "There are many, many ways to apply other Paths into your own... It's kind of like taking inspiration. Drawing from other Paths and weaving it into yours."
She paused briefly, allowing her words to settle in the minds of the students before her. Some nodded slightly, others stared forward in silent thought. Her finger hovered near her desk, then moved as she pressed another concealed button embedded seamlessly into the tabletop.
Without warning, every student's screen flickered.
The title at the top changed— it was unmissable.
DEATH PATH
IAM blinked and raised an eyebrow instinctively, leaning forward just slightly. The term on the screen felt like it shouldn't exist—like it was too much for mere glass and pixels to contain.
Vanessa's voice came again, smooth but low, as if the room itself had lowered its breath to hear her.
"Not to be confused with the Death Method," she clarified gently, "The Death Path is what some refer to as a dead start... or more commonly, a dead Path. It is widely recognized as the most lethal, the most dangerous path a human being could potentially walk—if they could understand it. Unfortunately…" she let the word hang like a weight, "...it is very unlikely."
The atmosphere in the room shifted. The casual curiosity that had fluttered between students now became slight confusion.
"As many of you are aware," Vanessa continued, "some Paths are far more popular than others. The reason for this is simple: the easier a Path is to understand, the more effectively you can progress through it. The difficulty of understanding doesn't necessarily make a Path strong. What does matter is the uniqueness of that understanding."
Her tone remained even, but the words themselves stung with truth.
"Because of this," she went on, "some Paths have risen far above others in popularity. Not because they are more noble or more powerful—but because they are easier to grasp."
The class remained silent. As if waiting for a twist. A punchline. Something to cut through the gathering intensity.
Vanessa gave it to them. But it wasn't a joke.
"Now, many people have tried to create their own Paths. Crafting something original. Something no one has ever walked before. These people are known as Pioneers of their Paths. And as a Pioneer, no one—not a single person—can ever understand that Path better than you."
She tapped her desk again, softly.
"Throughout history, thousands have tried to become Pioneers. And many... have failed."
She glanced around the room, her eyes finding faces in the crowd. "What we're talking about today is one of those failures. A failed attempt at creating a new Path. The Death Path."
She said the words like they were carved from snow.
"If someone could truly walk it... if someone could actually walk down this Path... They would become the most terrifying Ascender to ever live. Their ability to kill would go beyond skill, beyond strength. It would become... inevitable."
IAM didn't blink.
Vanessa went on.
"The Death Path would be unmatched in versatility. Limitless, in its approach. Because death... death comes in every form. Every shape. Every time, every moment, every type of end. If someone could tap into that... they could murder without resistance. End lives with a gesture. Command it with a whisper. But..."
She exhaled.
"It failed."
The class remained motionless.
"You might assume," Vanessa continued, "that death is something we all know. That because we all face it, and because many have delivered it... we should, in some way, understand it."
She shook her head slowly.
"But that was wrong."
Her eyes swept across the students again. Some had leaned in. But none dared speak.
"Instead of Death, what emerged were Paths that danced around it," she said softly. "The Fear Path... rooted in the dread of death that all humans feel. The War Path... death's favorite home. The Kill Path... the act of causing death. All of them are close. Circling around it like moths to a flame. But none of them are death itself."
She stepped forward slightly.
"We understand killing. We understand fear. But we do not understand true death."
Vanessa paused again. Long enough for some students to shift uncomfortably.
Yohan whispered under his breath, barely audible, "So then it's impossible…"
But somehow, Vanessa heard it anyway.
She nodded.
"That's right. It's impossible to understand death."
She said it without hesitation.
"To understand death... you must experience it. You must die for it."
Silence fell again.
"Just imagine it," she said. "If someone could somehow experience true death, and return, and then apply that experience to a Path… that understanding would be unlike anything this world has seen. That would be the most terrifying of all truths."
She paused.
"To declare death on others… with no resistance. No method of defense. No counter....."
She let the horror of it sink in.
Vanessa gave them time. The kind of time where the brain starts to reject its own imagination. The kind of time where students looked around, hoping someone else might laugh, or speak, or pretend like this was still just a class.
No one did.
Finally, she spoke again.
"Unfortunately… that's impossible. Those who die… stay dead."
And to that—
IAM simply smiled.
It was small. Almost undetectable. But it was there.
He looked down at his screen once more. DEATH PATH, it read. The letters no longer looked digital. They looked like something engraved into him.
In this moment, his eyes were unfathomable—dark beyond comprehension. His thoughts, hidden deep within that darkness, gave nothing away.
No one noticed.
Time passed,slowly.
Eventually, the class came to an end.
One by one, students filed out—still digesting what they had heard. Many walked in silence. Others whispered to their neighbors, trying to make sense of it. Just one class—and already they had learned so much.
This place was different. This was not just education.
And if one class could hold that much darkness and wonder…
What more secrets waited?
What other truths were still buried in the halls of Hope Academy?
They could only wonder.