Athanasia: My Hacker System

"This zone is perfect!"

The exclamation echoed across the vast, alien landscape. John and his companions spent the next twelve hours traversing their new territory.

For the first time in months, the crushing weight of dangers, challenges, fighting, and survival had lifted. There was no looming hostile race at the horizon, no encroaching horde of monsters, and no scary machine forcing them to keep fighting.

They moved with a leisurely pace that felt foreign, almost luxurious, inspecting the terrain and the different things that filled their new home. Eventually, their trek led them to the perimeter, where the true scale of their situation became undeniable.

The walls were not just fortifications; they were architectural wonders of huge scale. Standing at the base, even the towering Bulltors looked like insignificant ants.

The dark, reinforced material of the wall surged upward, blotting out the horizon. At regular intervals, sets of translucent, flying stairs hovered near the base.

John took a tentative step onto the first platform, and it responded instantly. With a smooth move, the stairs ascended, whisking him and his core group to the summit of the five-hundred-meter battlements.

Standing at such a dizzying height, John finally got a true bird’s-eye view of their zone and the world beyond. The first thing that caught his eye was a shimmering, semi-spherical veil of white mist that completely enveloped their territory, distanced at a few kilometres away from the walls.

It pulsed with a soft white light, the unmistakable symbol of the protection period he had earned. In the far distance, across the vastly open and unfamiliar terrain, he could spot several other identical domes of mist, marking the zones of other races who had also ascended.

Despite the vantage point, the sheer scale of the Source Code World made it impossible to see much with the naked eye. He had to rely on his expanded map.

The interface showed a world that spanned tens of thousands of kilometres, a lush and varied landscape of sprawling lakes, ancient forests, and mountain ranges that made the Himalayas look like foothills.

Strangely, the map was peaceful. No grand armies were marching across the plains, no catastrophic wars were being waged between the domes, and no signs of life were venturing outside the protective mists. It looked less like a battlefield and more like a high-resolution satellite map of Earth. The world was waiting, silent and expectant.

As the initial shock of the defences began to wear off, the group descended back to the valley floor to continue their scouting. As the massive orange star began to dip toward the horizon, painting the sky in shades of bruised purple and gold, everyone congregated toward the heart of the zone.

There, they found a massive, crystal-clear lake. It was a natural wonder that bore a striking resemblance to the artificial lake they had painstakingly dug back at their first base, yet this one was way bigger.

"It’s like the new world has a sense of humour," Elena joked, kicking a pebble into the water. "Maybe this lake grew out of the one we dug before. A reward for all that manual labour."

Goven didn’t laugh. He nodded seriously, his eyes scanning the shoreline. "In this world, intent and past actions often dictate the form of your rewards. Your friend might be closer to the truth than she thinks." He pointed across the water toward a series of rocky formations.

"The zone isn’t just vast and well-protected; it’s rich. I found a massive gemstone mine over there. The deposits are abundant, and white, green, and even blue gemstones are present. It’s an incredible starting point any race would dream of, even the Dragons."

Luke frowned, crossing his arms. "Wait a second. What does a pile of shiny rocks even mean here? Are they some kind of currency, or are they actually powerful?"

Elena’s eyes sparkled with a light of excitement. "Do they explode? Can we turn them into high-grade grenades?"

Even Cissel, who had been leaning leisurely against John’s shoulder, sat up straight, her interest piqued by the mention of resources.

Goven paused, letting the silence hang for a moment before he pointed towards the horizon where the sun had almost vanished.

"Remember those defensive towers on the walls? The floating gems at the peak aren’t just for show. Those gemstones are the batteries. They power the muzzles, enhance the range, and provide the elemental affinity for the attacks. And that is just a speck of their true might. In the Source Code World, the gemstones are the basis for everything."

John and the others nodded, but Goven could see they still didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation. He let out a low, weary sigh.

"You need to understand this more thoroughly," Goven continued, his voice and expression turning serious.

"Gemstones are the cornerstone of existence in the Source Code World. They are the fuel for every piece of technology and every magical construct.

Do you honestly think the defences you brought from the pocket trial will perform the same way they did before the ascension? Without a constant supply of gems, their power and intensity are drastically reduced. Everything is scaled down!"

"What?!"

The exclamation was unanimous. Disbelief turned into a cold spike of anxiety. John didn’t wait for further explanation; he reached into his inventory and took out one of his high-grade defensive towers.

Before the ascension, this specific tower was a five-hundred-meter-tall behemoth, a literal skyscraper of death. He gained it once before, back at the primary Hiveminds base.

Now, as it materialised on the lakeshore, it stood barely one hundred meters high. It was still impressive, but it had lost eighty percent of its stature and its former strength.

"Incredible..." Goven hissed. He and the other Krogers scrambled toward the base of the tower. "How do you have high-grade towers like this from a mere pocket trial?! This shouldn’t be possible! The standard towers should be way smaller and weaker than this!!"

Elena smirked, regaining some of her bravado. "Our pocket trial wasn’t exactly a standard experience. And our John? He’s definitely not normal either."