Athanasia: My Hacker System

Previously, when he had heard about the Ice Potion, John had used his Frame Recognition to properly inspect Mond’s body, but he had found nothing out of the ordinary.

All of the underlying codes and clusters within Mond’s body were either healthy green or standard white.

It was as if the potion held him in a state of stasis, but there was no trace of it anywhere for John to extract or intervene. John initially thought it would be like the black fog contamination. Yet that wasn’t the case.

So, he had decided to let the youth ingest the cores first, to force the attributes to enhance, and see what would happen; perhaps such enhancement pressure would reveal the hidden Ice Potion codes or so.

His decision proved to be the correct one. The moment Mond began processing the cores, John’s vision exploded with a fast-paced evolution that happened to him. New code clusters were appearing where there had been nothing but normal green codes before. And that wasn’t the end of it.

Their colours were shifting rapidly, bleeding from a dull white into a vibrant, electric blue. The process was still ongoing, the codes getting brighter and more codes appeared even after the core ingestion had stopped. John decided to give Mond more time to grow, while shifting his focus to Ben.

Ben looked more than a bit hesitant as he stepped into a wide area in the basement. "You know... If this fails, I’ll lose control of the tornado. I’ll end up harming all of you, and myself, too."

"Just give it a try," John said calmly, his hands tucked into his pockets. "In the absolute worst-case scenario, we’ll just retreat behind, away from the reach of your ability, and you’ll end up in the infirmary for a couple of days. It’s nothing you haven’t experienced before, right?"

"But what about the club?" Ben asked, his eyes darting around the basement. "It’s still brand new, and I fear..."

"Destroying it?" Ricky interrupted, breaking into an amused, boisterous laugh. "Believe me, Ben, if this place can be destroyed by a single, out-of-control ability, then it wasn’t worth the massive sum of money I poured into it. Don’t sweat over the property damage. Just start already."

"Fine," Ben muttered. Seeing how lightly everyone took the implications of his catastrophic ability, he steeled his nerves. Yet he was destined for the shock of his life.

Ben launched his tornado ability just as he always did. He began moving with incredible speed, circling John in a blur of motion. The air in the basement began to howl, and the familiar wind currents started to whip outward. Then, the tornado appeared.

But this time, something was fundamentally different. The tornado didn’t behave like a wild, rabid beast. There was no chaotic shedding of energy, no uncontrolled wild gusts that threatened to rip the floorboards up. It was under the perfect, smooth control of Ben’s consciousness. It felt as natural as breathing.

As this was the first time in Ben’s life he had ever felt such absolute mastery over his own power, he actually grew a little panicked by the lack of resistance. In a flash of fear, he ended the attack.

He came to a halt, standing perfectly fine in front of John, without the usual wounds or bleeding body. The expression on his face spoke volumes; it was a mixture of terror, joy, and utter disbelief.

"So, it succeeded," John said, a calm smile spreading across his face before he broke into a rare laugh. "This is fantastic! And Ben, it isn’t just about you anymore. This confirms we can help your entire family."

"My family? Can this also work with them?!!"

The words acted like a physical jolt, snapping Ben out of his momentary trance. He stared at John with wide, searching eyes, the gravity of the statement beginning to sink in. If what John said was true, the hereditary curse that had plagued his family for long generations could be cured with a few handfuls of these glowing gems.

John simply offered a knowing, confident smile. "It’s the same problem you had, and the cores that saved you can help them indeed," he said with a casual shrug, as if he were discussing a simple matter rather than a miracle to Ben.

"Let’s talk about the details when the time is right. For now, I need you to keep testing the limits of your enhanced ability. So far, you’ve only been using the primitive, explosive version of your power, basically just letting the pressure build until it pops. But from this moment onward, you can actually evolve the way you use your tornado and wind."

John paused, glancing upward toward the ceiling of the massive basement. "However, it’s probably better if you do that on the surface. You’re going to need space to see exactly how much wind you can control now without being restricted by the walls here."

"Sure! I’m going to do it right now!" Pumped up by the pure adrenaline-fueled excitement of his success, Ben couldn’t even stand still for another second. He didn’t wait for a second invitation; he darted toward the nearby elevator, hitting the button with such force that the panel rattled.

As the doors closed and he began his ascent to the surface, the rest of the inner circle smiled. They had all been in that position before, the moment the ceiling that shackled your own potential was suddenly shattered by John’s casual help.

In John’s eyes, however, the show wasn’t over. Through his Frame Recognition, he could see even more code clusters appearing and stabilising inside Ben’s body. Interestingly, a specific group of blue clusters hadn’t moved at all when Ben activated his tornado.

That meant there was a secondary ability that had been unlocked by the cores, and Ben himself hadn’t even realised it yet. He was in for another shock, and the rest of the academy would likely be shocked right along with him.

"Now... It’s your turn," John said, turning his attention toward Mond.

The seventh-year student was practically vibrating with anticipation. Seeing the transformation Ben had undergone, turning a dangerous weakness into a mastered strength, had ignited a fire in Mond’s heart that had been cold for years. "What do I do? More cores? A combat test?"

"Neither, for now," John said calmly. "I need you to simply activate your ability. Don’t launch an attack, and don’t try to force anything. Just let the energy flow. I need to see how your body reacts to the ability you are most familiar with before we continue."

Mond didn’t feel disappointed by the cautious approach. He knew his situation was significantly more complex than Ben’s. He didn’t delay, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, before unleashing his ability.

Before ingesting the cores, John’s vision had shown Mond with less than twenty special code clusters, all of which were white. But now, the codes had transformed. Over sixty special code clusters were pulsing within his body, and they had all shifted into a vibrant blue.

Yet, John was still puzzled. He was looking for the traces of the poisonous potion, the ice that was supposed to be freezing Mond’s growth. He expected to see something similar to the black fog corruption. But even after waiting for so long, there was nothing abnormal yet.

The moment Mond activated his ability, the air in the basement dropped in temperature for a split second before a violent heatwave erupted. Mond’s entire body was suddenly bathed in roaring blue flames.

It was a spectacular sight; the blue fire was so intense it cast long, flickering shadows against the distant walls of the basement. John’s friends stood back, mesmerised, as this was the first time they had seen someone in their circle using such high-grade pyrokinesis.

Mond’s own shock was even more intense. In his first and second years, he could only summon small, flickering white fires in the palms of his hands. They had been fragile, looking more like candle flames than a weapon.

That parlour trick had been what made Katherine fall in love with his potential in the first place, and for early-year students, even that much fire was considered deadly. But as his classmates grew stronger and he remained stagnant, that halo of strength had vanished, and he had been relegated to the status of a weakling while others far surpassed him.

But now? The fire didn’t just come from his fists; it engulfed his entire body like a living cloak of hell. This was just a casual activation, a mere idle state. He could feel the massive reservoirs of potential energy humming beneath his skin, waiting to be unleashed.

He knew there was far greater room to use this ability now, rather than just pleasing girls. He looked at his hands, his eyes reflecting the brilliant blue light, then looked at John, waiting for the verdict.

John kept his eyes fixated on the code structure of Mond’s, his brow furrowed in confusion. He looked at the way the blue clusters behaved, searching for any sign of a seal or any abnormality, but found none.

"There isn’t anything abnormal at all with your body," John finally said after several minutes of heavy silence. "Are you absolutely sure you took that potion? Perhaps Galbert just gave you a placebo and used psychological warfare?"

"I’ve researched the symptoms for years," Mond said, his voice sounding metallic through the roar of the flames. "The way my growth stopped, the way my power felt brittle... I’m positive it was the Ice Potion. What’s wrong?"

"That’s the thing," John sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "There isn’t anything wrong with you anymore. To be honest, everything looks perfectly normal. Your power is working at full capacity without any interference.

If anything, you’ve just grown far stronger than you ever were before, which is also the normal effect of the cores. Based on what I can tell, you’re already close to the power level of that Class President of yours."

"Close to Galbert’s strength?! Are you sure?!!" Mond was taken aback, almost losing himself. The blue flames flickered wildly. "But he has triple-attribute abilities! He’s considered a monster in the seventh year!"

"And I can tell you have a new ability opened as well," John said with a calm smile. "So, why don’t you head up to the surface and test your limits as well? See what else you can do besides burn things."

As John and his inner circle moved toward the elevator to follow their new recruits and witness the full display of their powers, the mood of the day finally shifted. The sad incident with Cissel moved to a remote corner in their minds and was replaced by the triumph their new friends achieved.

Yet, fate wasn’t done with them, not this soon.

On the surface, just beyond the tall, imposing walls of the newly established club, a large group of hostile students was approaching.

They marched with the confidence of an army, and at their head was the man responsible for the despair in Mond’s life, the leader of the Black Ares Club, the head of the Formal Team, the seventh-year Class President: Galbert.