Chapter 222: Fake Ice

Faking Erin’s ice ability wasn’t easy, especially since it was level 5. It wasn’t like Vorden could copy an ice ability and replicate its full power on the spot. Thankfully, Raten was able to pool together the MC of two abilities. If they copied both the level 2 ice ability user, and Quinn’s ability, then it would create a level 7 ice ability.

The thing that made the 7th level important was that it was the level where you could control ice with your mind. He knew this because there was once a chained member with the same level. To keep the secret that Erin didn’t have her old ability, making sure that Vorden wasn’t actively making hand motions in the background was important.

That would then lead to the only problem being that Vorden couldn’t read Erin’s mind, so coordinating with her in the moment would be tricky, but not impossible.

"I’ll help you with this," Vorden said.

Erin nodded approvingly, "Good, let’s meet up in Logan’s room and discuss this further. He’s part of this plan as well."

—

The next morning, all the students of military base 2 were in the cafeteria. It was important to be in a crowded area to not only get as many witnesses as possible, but to hide Vorden as well.

Erin was waiting in line while the others had already sat down. The idea was to wait until someone naturally tried pulling a move on Erin, but if nothing happened, then Fex would influence someone instead.

"So, how’s the food situation going?" Fex asked Layla who was sitting across from him.

"It’s dealt with," Layla replied simply, "Although, I still feel bad for you, Vorden. Are you sure you’re okay?"

Vorden was sitting nearby, sipping on a juice box and with all his limbs intact, "I’m fine, but I do gotta ask... How did you get so many pain killers?"

Suddenly, Layla grew a little embarrassed. She was sitting at a table with Fex, Vorden, and Quinn, aka, all boys who likely never had to deal with such a thing. Although she could tell from Quinn’s situation that he lived alone, she wasn’t sure if the other two had sisters.

"... It’s a girl’s secret," Layla eventually replied.

Quinn, however, was confused, "I thought they didn’t allow drugs at the school. Did you steal some from Hayley?"

"No, I—"

"Hold on, I see someone," Fex said as a tall burly looking man walked up to Erin.

The four immediately turned to see the person in question, and they almost did a double take. They were sure he was a student at the academy due to his uniform and watch, but due to his size, and muscular figure, it was hard to believe. His pitch black hair partially covered his eyes, giving a dangerous energy to him.

"Alright, you’re up," Vorden said, as he allowed Raten to take the chair, "And don’t do anything reckless this time!"

Raten rolled his eyes, but got on the chair regardless.

"So I get to meet the so-called Ice Queen," The guy spoke in a low voice, leaning uncomfortably into her ear.

The way his hot breath landed on her skin was enough to want to make Erin cut off a certain limb of his, but she waited.

"How about you let me skip ahead, and I won’t cause you any problems, gorgeous," he wickedly smiled, showing off too many teeth.

It was then that people started to turn their heads towards Erin. It was hard not to when the buff student was making no attempt to hide his threatening presence. For those who had heard of the rumors, they were paying extra attention.

"Back. Off," Erin snarled, then mouthed so quietly, he didn’t hear, "Or I’ll go cold."

"And why should I? You should be grateful I’m not just ripping your cl—"

Erin spun around, yanked her hand back, then lifted it upwards, where an iceberg suddenly formed right beneath him, suspending the boy in the air.

If people weren’t paying attention before, they were now.

"I was hoping to go longer without using my ability, but you ruined my streak," Erin coldly stated, and glared at him.

Even though he was lifted in the air, and objectively taller than her, the way Erin’s eyes bore into him made him feel like he was small.

Then, Erin continued her practiced lines, "Since my streak is ruined, it wouldn’t matter so much if I shove something nice, sharp and cold up your holes."

She opened up her hand, and a second later, ice formed into the shape of a sword.

"How many holes does a person have? 7? 9?" Erin put a finger on her lip, and tilted her head to further the point, "I would still like all your face holes free, that way I can hear you scream, so that’ll narrow it down significantly."

Fex, Layla, Vorden, and Quinn were all watching, and were a little surprised by how much Erin was getting into her role. They had some prepared lines courtesy of Vorden for Erin to say, but they didn’t expect her to get this sadistic.

"I can get behind that," Raten said a bit too excitedly.

The guy squealed hearing her words, and flailed uselessly in the ice, "Get me out of here! Get me out of here! Guys?! Stop her!"

Even though there were a few military staff on standby, they didn’t move an inch. Since Erin was a known level 5, she was considered high level enough to be left alone.

Flicking her hair, Erin left the line, and sat next to her friend group.

The line moved around the display of Erin’s powers, not sure if they wanted to get involved. It was a constant reminder not to mess with her, and it caused the cafeteria’s volume to audibly lower.

Crawling off of Raten’s and Erin’s ears were a pair of spiders. Logan’s little robots were quite helpful.

Yesterday after class when they were making this plan, they had prepared a few code words as well as a small script for Erin to say that would quickly explain her ’lack of an ability’ these past few weeks. They were thankful that everything had gone to plan, and nothing went wrong.

"Wow, you seem to really get into it, huh?" Layla said with a nervous smile.

"If you heard what he said to me, you would’ve done worse," Erin bluntly replied, then her facial expression relaxed, "Besides... it was nice using ice again."

Fex stared at Erin’s face, and pointed at it in shock, "Wait, do you see that? I think she just smiled!"

"What smile?" Erin replied.

"Honestly, you let him off easy," Quinn said, "If I had my way, I would’ve done worse."

"By the way," Raten leaned in, "If you want me to do this again, then just call on me any time!"

Erin nodded, then muttered under her breath, "Thank you."

—

In Duke’s office, reports came in about the status of Erin’s ability’s return, which brought a smile upon his face. This meant that he would now have two very exciting gifts for Truedream. However, his smile disappeared when a message from the Green family came in.

As extra measure, Logan gave his family’s protection to Erin incase the military would ask about the "drug" that was affecting her ability, as he knew they would hound her with questions. What he didn’t know was that this would make it so Erin would no longer get sent to Truedream.

"Fine, so he won’t visit without two good sacrifices, but that doesn’t mean we can’t prepare him another one."