The change was all too expected. After his energy body stabilized at the same purity, he was able to handle the energy better but as with previously, the death count was left to the stone.

Still, even with everyone having huge bursts after they began to upgrade the separate traits composing their powers, Robin still maintained pace with everyone in the year if not surpassed many.

Even Lola, who was among the fastest growing ones because of the feedback from her Devil Essence being much higher than normal, also felt the abnormality of Robin's growth as he overtook her.

After a week and a half of similar growth and constant death, Robin was finally resisting exploding from energy overload and a few times he died from exhaustion instead.

The system analyzed him and the stone as best it could.

Everyone agreed that it was too dangerous so they pooled their money and helped Robin upgrade his energy burn resistance to level 5. It had to be pooled because level 4 was 1500 levels and level 5 was 5000 levels.

The result was finally sufficient resistance that he would not die from energy burn but they were gathered to see the final merge.

"Ready?" Robin asked

"I've been more than ready for over a year and a half." Mr Atlas said.

Breathing deeply, Robin touched both halves and released his titan force.

It slowly covered it and entered the central crack until the center.

Unlike before, there was a massive resistance and Mr Atlas cried out like the first time he had been merged.

Robin kept adding pressure to the point and slowly it started to have a reaction but the real shocker was when the stone split and disconnected from the essence and it gathered all of it into the middle.

The stones actually started to funnel power into the essence alongside Robin and it was hard to look at.

Robin felt the most pressure because, unknown to the others, he was having the same pressure imposed on his body and at the center was his lower dantian, where an absurd amount of titan force was spinning around a centerpoint.

He couldn't even scream before something ignited and all at once, all the titan force was sucked into it and formed a tiny flame.

In the glowing mass it was no different as all the titan force from the stones were suddenly stripped and a tiny flame formed before it released a faint golden light into the rocks and they casually merged above everyone.

It compressed under the gentle light but the stone was reduced to 1 meter in diameter before it collapsed, seemingly dead.

Robin collapsed back, also seemingly void of any energy and only the mass remained glowing and radiating energy.

It slowly started to extend and formed two arms and legs before forming a head.

It started to gain details before skin materialized and worked inwards.

Everyone was shocked as a man every student had known began to take shape until he dropped down.

He was much thinner but it was Mr Atlas, Denis Johns, in the flesh.

Robin was huffing as he forced himself up. The void of energy was not a good feeling but he felt an intense heat in his lower belly clearly showing he still contained something.

He looked at the stone but it didn't seem to react to any call and was almost dead.

Still, he was happy that Mr Atlas was back.

He forced himself up and smiled, "We did it… we finally got you back sir." Robin said.

He walked close but for some strange reason Mr Atlas wasn't reacting but he could see he was conscious.

"Mr Atlas?" He called.

"Stone… where is the stone… I feel something isn't here, stone…" he suddenly started to say and reached for Robin and began to tremble.

"Stone… give me the stone! It's got something! Stone!" He said.

“What's going on?" Chasm Might said, appearing beside them.

Esper was also watching and was right behind them. He extended his hand and sensed Mr Atlas's mind and frowned.

"There’s a whole bunch of different qualities of world power raging all over. I think he is currently unstable." Esper said.

"Mr Atlas… mr atlas!" Robin shouted and before anyone could react, he gave him a resounding slap.

"Huh!" As if getting clarity from the pain, he stopped a moment. "Robin… the stone… I need it…!" He said.

"Why?" Robin asked.

"It has power… I need to charge… It has power!" He said.

"It's not releasing anything." Robin said.

"I think we should get him over." Chasm might said.

Robin nodded and together with chasm might, they helped him close and when he was near, his eyes shined and he let go on his own and touched it.

"Stone!” He exclaimed and suddenly his body was like a broken dam and erupted with all sorts of world power.

"Calm down!" Chasm Might shouted but to his shock, everyone was smashed by a powerful wave of world power except Robin.

"What is this?" Robin exclaimed as he felt the raging power. MrAtlas looked like he was going mad but it worried Robin.

That said, the heat in his stomach made him move suddenly and touch the stone.

Both their bodies instantly reacted and the barrier got even bigger.

"More power, I need to charge!" Mr Atlas said but Robin felt he was filling up instead like a drain.

"Fuck!" He shouted before sitting down and unable to remove his hand, he forcefully took charge and began to grind the world power.

Basic world power fell into his control and channeled through him and was compressed through a cycle before he pushed it into the rock.

That said, the energy went into Mr Atlas, whose expression turned ecstatic as he seemed to channel as if by instinct under the same technique as Robin.

The basic and level 1 world power began to gather at each before he returned the power into the rock and it entered robin forcing the next level of power free and it continued that way until they reached an emerald deep color that finally gave birth to titan force.

The new force absorbed the world power until the barrier was gone but it was far from truly gone.

When the last of the world power was gone, the titan force exploded from Mr Atlas's body with even more intensity. Robin was lucky to have resistance to energy burn while Mr Atlas had been literally reforged from all this power.

Robin continued the back and forth and each of them processed power one level denser and returned it to the stone but once titan force was added, the stone began to form markings.

Each level would form new markings and once it was done, a copy of the markings would come out and into Mr Atlas's body.

It went on all the way to the last level when both of them released a tiny spark that rotated within the stone and caused the markings to glow golden before Mr Atlas left with a copy of them.

All the excess force was rapidly gathering into the stone and when it was gone, Mr Atlas was pushed off the stone.

The glowing marks made the stone levitate before everyone saw the stone suddenly compress.

It kept going until it was the size of a pinky finger and was golden. It moved to robin before finally entering his body in the lower belly.

"AHH!" Robin shouted as the immense heat filled his entire midsection before it spread through his body's meridian cycle and back and slowly calmed down with the stone within him.

For Mr Atlas, the markings around his body gathered above him until it formed a similar glowing orb that entered his lower belly and similarly inhabited that space.

Everyone watched as they both slowly calmed down as their bodies adapted before both of them released intense rumbling.

Huffing Robin held the hurting lower belly. "Mr Atlas… how… are you?"

"Hungry." He said.

The two remained there before chuckling at each other. Robin looked over and nodded. The teachers approached and Admin Server and Esper were already using different techniques or skills to check on both.

"That was a lot of energy. Are you both alright?" Chasm Might said.

"Just hungry. I haven't eaten in over a year." Mr Atlas said.

"He's not lying, his body is absolutely starved. Furthermore, it seems they both shared the titan force but that has taken a totally new form. It's a true upgraded energy source beyond tier 1." Admin Server said.

"What are his stats?" Chasm Might asked.

"Currently around 200 but you should know better than I that he is likely to explode just by eating much less when he starts training. I estimate he will stabilize when he is a braveman. Robin should be pretty similar. What is amazing is that the system is picking up that both of them have the capacity to increase their weight. The stone in Robin and the condensed energy in this man are identical and are super condensed nuclei. If they wanted to, they could turn their bodies into minor gravity wells and possess an orbit of their own." Server Admin said.

"Seriously? What of the new energy?" Chasm Might asked.

Shockingly, the system suddenly chimed in using Kevin's voice, as he was nearby.

"Congratulations for the world core hosts successfully condensing the world core in symbiotic union. Each of you have been awarded a title to represent your minor evolution into a minor mortal divinity. These titles are also linked to a divinity which is a source of power in itself. This domain will infuse into the divine spark and distribute itself within your divine power."

After Kevin finished, he blinked in confusion and shook his head. Everyone was looking shocked at him before they saw two small orbs of light like stat points appear and enter the two people who had caused this huge event.

Moments later, everyone's eyes were on Mephesto's daughter because she had access to a god.

She summoned him and explained what just happened and surprisingly, he started to clap.

"Congratulations. This is far faster than I thought you would achieve it after the core passed hosts. I've been on this world conscious for a few decades but you finally achieved your first real demigods." He said, clapping.

"What does that even mean?" Esper asked.

"In essence it just means a native member of this world achieved the capacity to produce divine power by channeling, condensing energy until it takes on a solid state within their bodies. I told you about it last year. The world core, for them, was essentially the reward for the boy to help him condense a core while the original host had the biological aspect and just needed the special rules connected to the physical core so his body could produce it. Now their cores contain a divine spark which will help them produce an infinite amount of divine power." He explained.

"Is it the same for everyone?" Esper asked.

"Sure, it is not limited to world power. Something good to know is that divine power of any kind will have similar levels of strength. It is not like how titan force has such an immense advantage over true qi. When energy has condensed a solid state, the gap is quite small. This works the same for life force and psychic energy and any other multitude of powers." The deity explained.

"So you still won't explain how it is achieved right?" Chasm Might said.

"Sorry, I know how deities do it. Not mortals." He replied.

"How much will these two grow after this?" Server Admin asked.

"Well… they are going to experience a state of extended growth. Neither of their bodies can even produce divine power at the moment because they are so weak. The divine spark will still cause them to grow very fast. If I had to gauge it then they would likely be braveman before their bodies can produce divine power naturally. Once it starts forming, it isn't really a question of if but when. These two are very likely to become heroes." He said.

"Compared to us?" Chasm Might asked.

"If you all fail to condense a core then they are likely to surpass you unless your abilities evolve making your innate power so much greater." He said.

They nodded and understood.

"Hey… can we talk after we get food." Mr Atlas said with a hoarse voice.

A few chuckles followed before they helped him to the school and the two were given a banquete while Mr Atlas's family was called.

As expected though, he ate much more than Robin. It was like he had done before when he was making the rocks. Each new one was another feeding fest but this time it came all at once.

The scariest part was his body giving off steam from his metabolism burning up calories like crazy.

He drank gallons of water at a time while eating.

The two were almost able to empty the school's supplies before they calmed down.

"Seems we will need to stock up." Chasm Might said.

Later, his family arrived, in shock that he was truly alive.

They apologized to Robin when they did not believe him when he said Mr Atlas really was inside the stone.

Even his own friends thought he was crazy, much less strangers.

That said, together with the heroes at school, they called him to a talk.

"You heard it yourself. You are 100% likely to become a hero. Your body is going to constantly grow stronger. Do you have plans for the future?" Chasm Might asked.

"The same as I always had. I've always wanted to be a teacher and I did that and I still want to do that, hero or not. Crime fighting is honestly not my strong suit even if my powers say otherwise. I'm not like Robin who has trained. Even if I have a license for heroics, it is just so I can teach." He said.

"Right. In that case we don't have much of a problem getting you back here as a teacher. You can very well become a hidden ace. A hidden hero is a very big card to play in dire times." Chasm Might said.

Next to Mr Atlas was Robin.

"For you Robin, any thoughts?" He asked.

"None. I was determined to aim for hero the day you asked me if I was willing to arch with the responsibilities of accepting the Hero's Disciple class. It hasn't changed but it won't stop me from building my hero company after graduation. The gamer space can cure disabilities but not activate improperly activated powers. Even if it is just something like counseling for powers and how to grow them I don't mind. Disabilities will probably always exist and I will use what I can to help reduce this suffering." He said.

The teachers smiled and nodded.

Those close to him were well aware of his attention when talking about powers. It has gone even beyond since the system can actively show every separate trait building their core powers. Having this kind of access allows a study of abilities that few scientists could achieve.

"Alright, it was a very exciting day, each of your bodies is probably very strange so take a rest. Mr Atlas, you can come directly to work. Initially we need to get you caught up physically but I'm sure next year you will be perfectly stable." Chasm Might said.

"Thank you." He replied.

After they split up, Mr Atlas went home for the first time and Robin went home without the stone exposed. Still, he could feel the stone and his control over it spread throughout his body allowing him to achieve flight in a different manner to before.

Finally at home, he could take a moment to finally see his status after all the events. It should be said, besides strength that was over 3,200 the rest was still under the 3000s. It was a number clearly in the braveman levels. Everyone wanted to be as strong as their favorites so it made sense that he was excited but most of all was the title he was told about.

Status

Name:

Robin Harrison

Class:

Hero’s Disciple

Title:

Aspect of Perseverance

Stat Points:

870

Level:

200

HP:

95,600

Stamina:

73,760

Strength

3344

Dexterity

2920

Agility

2850

Intelligence

260

Constitution

3120

Wisdom

320

Title

Aspect of Perseverance

A title only for those who preserved through the trials and tribulations when all odds were against them down to their genetics. This is the title bestowed upon those who were able to take the unfairness of the world and fight these heads on each step until you achieved the first step of greatness. You are now a Demi-god of Perseverance and possess an unbending will against opposing odds and your strength and intelligence erupts when the odds are not in your favor.

Robin read the title and grinned because once he did, all the things he passed during his life went on in his head for a long time. He leaned his head against his hand while sitting on his bed and just felt extremely happy that all his work, all the sweat and trouble was noticed.

“This is just the first step.” He said and breathed in deeply as he began to channel his psychic energy and feel the difference in his body. He had spent weeks focused almost purely on titan force and now it felt empty but he knew that wasn’t true, it was just that his body wasn’t able to actively produce it.

He slowly examined himself in a very calm manner through feeling. He wasn’t proficient like Shoji or psychics.

“Guess I can only try it but let’s do it super slowly.” He said and drew a breath in slowly and controlled the stone that was in his lower belly.

It was frozen still within a space that had formed inside the acupoint because of all the energy infused into it.

Ever so slightly, the stone began to rotate in its spot and doing so, it released a very faint golden mist.

It sank down and instantly Robin felt a pretty hot energy. He spread through his body and he just made a small bit before channeling it through his body to see and feel it.

He felt that getting the 5th level resistance trait was a very good idea because he felt like where they passed, it was like a burning hell and realized why the Grace’s deity said that it was impossible to use it without his body being naturally capable of producing this energy.

It literally felt like he was going to blow up with just a wisp of energy.

Eventually he had to make it leak from his body but as it came out, it broke down and the entire room was filled with a vibrancy.

“The deity called it divine power but just like titan force, I think continuing to call it a ‘force’ is the proper way.” He muttered to himself.

He let himself calm down and shook the feeling off but he still felt very strange. Even the titan force in his cells were gone but he could feel the pressure from stone acting on his body but was restrained.

“I need to check how far I can take it and how it affects me.” he said and walked outside and tried the most obvious part and weight control.

He released it slowly and he suddenly felt like his body was trying to pull inward towards it but when he felt scared by it, the direction suddenly changed to the ground and he felt his weight increase but the effect ended at his feet and the ground was actually unaffected as if something was acting in directly opposition to counter it.

When he made it stop he breathed in deeply, “Okay, got to remember what the deity said. If I let it, the highly compressed stone can become its own gravity well. My body can’t handle that intense pressure destroying me from inside.” He said and tried to see how much he could control it.

He found that he had a very high control of his body’s gravity so he could literally give himself very strong reverse gravity and send himself shooting into the air.

“So basically, I have complete control of gravity acting upon my body but I wonder.” he muttered and looked at his own hands as he tried to imagine his hand becoming denser like the stone but all he got was his arm being pulled and trapped to the ground.

“Oh shoot, it seems I can’t have the same density as the stone. That doesn’t stop me from climbing up high and dropping myself with the weight of it but I don’t have titan force to defend myself.

He sighed but then he felt a sudden shift as the stone vanished from his belly and he looked at his hand and glowing in the acupoint at the center of his hand, the stone had actually appeared.

He touched the area at the center of his palm and grinned as he realized that this tiny point could be moved anywhere in his body.

He tried it and realized he could use this to defend against attacks too fast to block.

He wanted to see how much it weighed and spotted a small space and with his hand just a little off the ground, he increased the weight and pressed.

Thump! Crack!

The ground within a meter of him was instantly filled with cracks and a circular indent formed on the outer edge as the dirt was slightly pressed down when he intentionally made the weight act on the world.

The stone returned to his lower belly.

“Hehe, this is an awesome trump card. If I'm under the threat of a super villain like Time Tempest and he is playing around, maybe I can catch him off guard like I did the first time. I would love to try it again, especially with my Super Villain Crusher achievement. As long as it’s in the gamer space I would gain momentum.” he said and laughed to himself at the funny thought.

When he was done testing what he thought he could do he headed back home and went to rest because even though he didn’t feel it much, he knew his body was stressed from the events.

***

In the chambers for the academy, the heroes were gathered. Not just the 8 that worked on the academy but the missing members who had never joined the Hero academy construction.

The Seer wasn’t among them though, the Seer had no nationality, she worked worldwide much like Vincent. The reason Vincent is even regarded as an American Hero is because he lives in the Land of Death over mexico.

Miss America was there, following her was Vibrate, a hero with the power vibration, he doesn’t simply vibrate himself though, he wouldn’t be a hero if it was that simple. He has surpassed simple vibrations and can actually cause isolated earthquake level vibrations contained within a small space or make it explode when he makes contact, he has been dubbed the walking earthquake.

The last member of the ten heroes is called Bookkeeper. A very strange man, many believe he suffers from split personality disorder, something that has been debunked by Esper himself, because of his powers. He can become the character of any book he touches and does not need to maintain contact, he just needs to touch it and achieve the complete transformation that he will become. This includes even villains but although he might incorporate some of their personality, he is in the driver seat so he would not intentionally cause harm. Furthermore, the more well written the character is, the better their powers are explained and drawn out, the better he can use their abilities which has led him to become an author of many books.

It should be said that his powers include all characters including animals and mythical creatures. So he can also become actual mythical dragons or powerful sorcerers. How much strength he can show however depends on the durability of his body to store and express the character’s powers. That is why it is impossible for him to take the form of a god and rid the world of the ultimate evil and dangers to humanity.

All the heroes were gathered but despite the happy mood for the success of Robin’s growth, none of them were happy and were all serious.

“Any news on ‘him’?” Miss America asked.

“Well, we have no way of telling. It is too difficult to hide and despite having so many problem powers, they have many annoying ones. Especially those eyes.” Techno said.

“Keen eye’s floating eyes are a nuisance for sure. Since they see in so many different spectrums, even someone who is invisible can’t even hope to get far in.” Esper said.

“So we have no way of knowing when or where they will attack? Have you been watching the still uncleaned state governments?” Bookkeeper asked.

“Obviously, I've already caught all the scum that reported to Oceania when the news came out. They are being transported to my labs and will be free to interrogate.” He said to Esper, who nodded.

“Why are we still here in Richmond if they can attack at any time? We should spread out and blanket the union?” Miss America said.

“We don’t need that.” Techno said, “I’ve personally been testing it with myself, I've gone through the digital gate I built here and entered the digital realm. Since it is such a convenient thing, I've already had several secret labs throughout the west coast, central america… outside the land of death though, and several places in south america. The area has the tower grids and I've been sending satellites designed to connect these small grids into one network.” Techno said.

“How fast exactly?” Mephesto asked.

“Well… as a person with just life force, though a lot of it, I was still able to pass through the realm and appear in the west coast with a rough lag of about a minute. Depending on the distance it can be from 1 minute to about 3 to go from north to south america.” He said.

“Much better than several hours of flight.” Mephesto said.

“Yes but I don’t know the reaction you would have with your dense life essence.” Techno said.

“We will have to try eventually.” he said.

Techno sighed because he didn’t want to try because of the danger to the system but he couldn’t not do it.

“This server, do you plan to move actual people in there?” Miss America asked.

“Yes, the hope is that we can move powerless people into the server where they can live without fear of a sudden super powered war like we are facing now.” He said.

“And you think the super computer isn’t in any danger, at all?” Miss America asked.

“That is secondary, the AI already said that eventually the digital world will split from the computer and become a separate realm just like the demon realm and netherworld.” Techno said.

She snorted, “You should at least make a few supercomputers to safeguard the people.” She complained.

“Well excuse me if there aren’t that many extreme quantum computers in the world and they're not in my hands.” He said.

She glared at him.

“Alright, enough of this, Techno is doing his best to safeguard the powerless and give us a possible new fighting force from any of them who actually have any compatibility with digital creatures and can fight alongside them. Right now we need to focus on the now. Besides Mephesto and his group, who are still untested, the rest of us are still likely able to cross the digital realm to fight but we must remember that he is likely to send people at our strength. Everyone should be more than aware of how strong his elite force can be, especially since he actively entertains genetic engineering to strengthen these people.” Vincent said and looked at the trio that had avoided the academy.

To an extent, those who frequent the school have actually taken steps to grow stronger. This is especially true for Chasm Might and Mephesto who have had major changes.

Miss America looked at the two and snorted, “Well it isn’t that far from what you’ve all been encouraging.” She said and then turned her sharp glare to Server Admin who was the key to it all.

“Are you complaining about what the Seer asked me to incentivize? If it wasn’t for her, I would have never gone to the school to give him basic information on his own powers. If you have complaints about its capabilities then go to her.” Server admin said.

She snorted in discontent.

Vincent sighed, “It feels more like we are enemies trying to argue about whose morals are right or not. Miss, you should really put your ego away. The capability to give children with good morals the possibility of growing into heroes and increase the number of heroes in the union is something we could have only hoped for with our growing age.” He said.

“Even you, sir!” She complained.

“Miss, that’s enough.” Bookkeeper said and looked at her as he snapped the book he was reading shut. “They have put money into the future and are facing the danger that would come with this option. To an extent, they are correct in their judgment. Initially it was originally only for Chasm Might’s disciple who just recently completed the symbiosis of an inheritance power and both now possess the capabilities of possibly even surpassing us. Just this is more than enough for him to do this work but now we have the chance to renew and refresh the hero base with youth, instead of letting our strength weaken with age.” He said.

Vibrate was watching it all and sighed, “Maybe we can get back onto the actual topic. Any thoughts about the coming attack? The utter destruction of the entire east coast’s underground is not something he is going to take lightly and he is very likely to send a large and painful reminder of why we still should fear him.” Vibrate said.

“Only 5 regions were mentioned, the total number was 8 cleared regions in 1 month time. If he actually knew that, it is possible that he might even send those at the top chain instead of powerful disposables.” Chasm Might said.

A map of the union appeared and there was a huge blue space over the entire east coast from the south east all the way to the north of the continent. It contrasted greatly with the red that filled other areas.

“I feel like they might attack here.” Esper said.

Everyone looked at him confused.

“Any particular reason?” Vibrate asked.

“Because it is where the hope that several of us have put for the future. Since we took so much of his ‘precious’ network, he is the kind of man that would try to take what we feel is precious.”

All of their faces clenched as they knew if it was true then they would definitely aim for the children.

“We should evacuate them and make sure they are spread out.” Miss America said.

“Why?” Blue phoenix, Admin and Chasm Might asked together.

“You said it yourself, they might aim for them!” She said.

“And what, spread them around so that we can’t protect them? Also, the 10th grade student body, and those older even, have all begun to experience extensive blooming. Even if we disregard Might’s disciple, who had a near broken level of growth because of the world core’s intense energy, the others are all at least peak strongmen already if not weak braveman. This isn’t limited to the strength ability classes. It is generalized throughout the entire heroics in all areas, even in Esper’s psychic classes and Vincent’s Necromancy. The student’s are growing explosively. Although the Oceania army is a major threat, at the same time, the children here are the cream of the crop in the entire union. Unless they send more threats of our strength than we can handle, there is nothing that we should do to children who are growing up for this exact life. What we should focus on is the civilians.” Admin said.

“And what of your little game master huh?” She asked.

“And what of him? Just like all the civilians, at this moment we can hide him in the safest place in this world. He knows his purpose better than anyone else and won’t fight the option of hiding until he achieves his purpose.” Admin said.

“Miss America, you shouldn’t try to sow discord. We have remained out of this business because we saw no need to intervene. You came to me last year to try and break this idea up because it left the number of heroes spread around too thin. Stop trying to change things that are already in motion.” Vibrate said.

The other heroes frowned when they heard of this.

She snorted and went silent.

“Since we are aware of the threat, we should begin preparing countermeasures. We might have a small area cleared out but there are many that still hold threats. The union army is large and can contend with the Oceania army but we have to be ready for their super villain threats.” Vincent said.

“Alright, Techno please show us all the locations you have those platforms and then prepare one that we can test on to see if all of us can safely cross through.” Admin said.

“Already prepared. This is the map.” He said and like that, they proceeded to start working out the details.