Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 47: The Specialised Training

"I hate you... yawn!"

John yawned with his mouth entirely open, his jaw clicking as he stumbled down the dormitory hallway. He walked with half-sleepy eyes alongside Luke, their footsteps echoing toward the training hall.

At 8 A.M. sharp, John had been forced to wake up by the relentless, rhythmic banging of Luke on his door. He couldn’t ignore the knocks; they sounded as if Luke had a blood feud with the mahogany wood. Every knock had vibrated through John’s skull, agitating the lingering pains of his long-night dungeon raid.

"What? This is the first day in our specialised training, and you aren’t excited about it?" Luke chirped, seemingly immune to the morning chill. "Come on! I swear I couldn’t sleep well last night out of pure excitement!"

"Yawn!"

The only answer Luke received was another deep yawn from an uncaring John. His memories of the previous night were a hazy blur of agony and triumph. He didn’t even recall crawling into bed.

When he finally woke up to Luke’s hammering, he was lying on the cold floor, inches away from the door, with a headache more intense than anything he had ever felt—worse even than the aftermath of a Mental Breakdown State. His body felt heavy, like it was made of lead.

"Come on! Wake up! From Athanasia to John, wake up!" Luke was incredibly energetic, far more than usual. He kept jumping right and left, circling John like an overexcited golden retriever, making the latter feel even more annoyed.

"Why are you this pumped up? We are just going to get familiarised with the training schedule today, which isn’t that much different from our usual training classes, just more intense!" John knew that if he wanted to get rid of the noisy shouts, he had to throw a bait for Luke to talk about himself.

The trick worked instantly.

"I have my reasons," Luke said, his voice dropping as he suddenly fell silent for a few moments. He looked down at his boots before adding, "You do know that my family needs help right now more than ever. Even if it’s just a small competition in our academy, winning it will prove that there is hope in the new generation of Lockheart..."

Luke continued speaking with raw honesty about his personal feelings—his duty as the heir, his desperation to alleviate the pressure on his parents, and the grim news he’d received recently about their declining influence in their city.

John gave his talkative friend a silent gaze. He didn’t interrupt. In his heart, he knew that this loyal, slightly clumsy friend was the best candidate to take his newly forged Evolution Potion.

It wasn’t just because Luke had a kind heart and no ill intentions; it was a matter of strategic backing. If John helped Luke rise to power by giving him early access to his latent attributes, the Lockheart family would owe him an unpayable debt.

Their resurgence would become John’s biggest shield in the wider landscape of Athanasia. But John knew the utmost value of timing.

He had to wait for the perfect moment to make the offer, ensuring it left the deepest possible impression. For now, the green-coded vial remained hidden in his newly unlocked Inventory.

"Oh, you arrived early! Very fitting for the Class President!"

As the two arrived at the specialised training hall, John was startled to find Teacher Nikolas already standing there. He looked as sharp and intimidating as ever, leaning against a weapon rack. "Come in. I expect the others to arrive shortly, and then we can officially begin your training." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

’It seems it was a good idea to wake up and follow Luke after all,’ John thought, offering a calm smile while resisting the urge to yawn a third time.

"Hi, sir! I’m very excited about the training and joining the fighting team for the competition!" Luke saved John for the second time that morning, taking the initiative to engage Nikolas in a conversation about the upcoming tournament. It effectively distracted the teacher from noticing John’s bloodshot eyes and pale complexion.

John maintained his silence, though not entirely by choice. Between the throbbing headache and the sheer physical exhaustion from clearing the Bug Dungeon, the less he spoke, the less chance he had of collapsing or saying something he shouldn’t.

"... The training schedule is planned by me," Nikolas explained, his voice projecting across the high-ceilinged hall, "but your Class President has the right to change its arrangement or add anything he deems necessary. Ah, here is the rest of the training team..."

Just as Nikolas reached the midpoint of his orientation, the doors creaked open. The other selected students arrived in a cluster, as if they had agreed beforehand to present a united front.

Even Cissel, who usually made a habit of being the last person to arrive, walked in just minutes after the others, her expression unreadable but her eyes sharp.

Aside from John, Cissel, Ricky, and Luke, there were six others who completed the roster for the elite training team. Four of them were predictable—they came directly from Ricky’s gang, including the usual troublemakers, Alfred and Bernard.

The remaining two were other normal students who had somehow had the guts to join: a bulky-looking male with massive shoulders named Marcus, and a girl named Elena who seemed to love wearing short skirts and paid extra attention to her hair and makeup, even in a sweat-drenched environment of their training.

John ignored everyone, even Cissel, and focused entirely on Ricky. For the first time, he noticed the dark, swollen bags under the other boy’s eyes. Ricky’s lids were half-closed, and his movements were stiff, lacking their usual arrogance. John immediately realised the truth: Ricky was suffering from the same temporal side effects of the dungeon.

’Hehehe, I can’t wait to see the look on your face when you realise the bug dungeon you created and were farming isn’t there anymore,’ John couldn’t help but inwardly laugh, while showing a subtle smirk on his face.

Ricky gave John a single sharp glance, but he mistook the smirk for some mischievous plan the Class President had concocted for him. He turned his sight away, his jaw tightening. Cissel, however, didn’t look away. She gave John a very weird look, a look of genuine surprise.

John resisted the urge to say something to her when she passed by his side. He recalled the seemingly impossible quest he had—to gain her familiarity risen—and that made him hold back from any comment that would ignite her hostility further.

"Now, we’ll start our first training session," Nikolas’ face beamed with even more excitement than Luke’s at this moment. He clapped his hands together, the sound echoing like a gunshot. "We’ll start with physical training, then move to sparring. The sparring rules will be decided by John, so wait for him to tell you about the arrangements..."

’What the heck, man? Why didn’t you say that to me yesterday so I could prepare what to say?!’ John blinked in surprise when he heard his name mentioned next to a task he had never heard of as his! Nikolas had told him he’d prepared everything, but it felt like the man loved playing tricks with him to test his leadership on the fly!

’Perhaps I can use this to my advantage,’ as the ten students started running in circles around the perimeter of the hall, John began looking at this new task from a different angle. ’I’ll ask them for ideas, involve them in making decisions. I know Ricky would love it! But Cissel...’

He could see Ricky being pleased by this sudden inclusion, as it acknowledged his status. But when he recalled how Cissel had acted before, especially when he’d forced her to be his Vice, he didn’t know if this move would bring her closer or push her even further away from him. To her, involvement might look like a burden.