Chapter 60

Demonstration

June 8^th, 2026

Captain Sherman, Rick, and several ranking military officers stood, appraising the assembled members of the Community. Everyone had gathered just outside the northern palisade walls, performing demonstrations at the behest of Captain Sherman. All of the more combat-focused members of the Community had been informed regarding the threat posed by the nearby bandit camp, and all were determined to help in some capacity.

The area outside the walls that everyone had gathered in, still bore the side effects of the Demon Champion's fiery rampage during the opening throes of the invasion. However, even now, just a few weeks since the 'Systems Advent', nature was managing to recover.

In the past, life would at times take years to recoup from forest fires or volcanic eruptions. However, an entire town burning was something completely different. Normally, chemicals, human waste, and industrial byproducts would complicate nature's attempts at reclaiming a region. As such, it should have taken much longer to see life return, yet signs of recovery were already apparent nearly a month after the catastrophe that forced the world onto its knees and into its current apocalyptic state.

As I looked around, I took in my surroundings. Life was beginning to return, shrubs and saplings weaving their way through the rubble of burnt-out buildings. Vines climbed up the skeletal remains of houses. The occasional wild animal—or mutated monster—reared their heads to inspect their surroundings. In the distance, shambling corpses signified that the recovery was still quite incomplete. I took a deep breath through my nose, and smelled the fresh morning dew that held a slightly ashy twang. All of this was just another indication that our world was no longer the same as it had once been.

A quick glance through my [Mana Sight] skill indicated why. The entire area was currently undergoing a war between several different mana types. The area had once been completely rife with fire and death mana. Fire mana from the flames of the Demon Champion, and death mana from all the death that had occurred in the area. Whenever something died, the mana was always released in some measure.

This was no time to take in the sights though. As promised, I was delivering on demonstrating the capabilities of myself and the members of the Community. If there was any time to try and convince Camp Edward to begin utilizing the System, it was now. I understood why they might drag their feet regarding it, after all, the System just so happened to coincide with the demonic invasion. It was hard not to think the two events weren't somehow correlated.

Of course, that thought wasn't exactly wrong, as they were connected. It's just that the System is a boon, not a detriment. Yet the military still continued to be cautious about it. The sooner they embraced it, the quicker I could gain stronger allies when the demons inevitably began their advance. It was crucial that this demonstration went well, not only for our participation in the operation regarding the bandits, but also in ensuring the military began to fully utilize the system.

It was decided that I would go last, and as such everyone else had already gone before me. With our frontline fighters displaying their combat prowess. I cringed when I caught sight of Captain Sherman and his officer's reactions during that bit. Not everyone had a proper melee "technique". Only Dante and Harrison showed any reasonable prowess. But, considering their military backgrounds, that wasn't surprising.

What truly impressed the officers was the speed by which everyone had moved. The strength that they exhibited. Even if their technique wasn't satisfactory, the potential presented by their superhuman strength and speed was another matter entirely. Clearly, the system had some profound impacts that no amount of physical training could compare to. By the way they whispered to each other, I could tell that serious considerations were being given for further experimentation with the system. We were slowly winning them over. While Captain Sherman was only a Captain, he still held a fair bit of sway with the Colonel of Camp Edward. As such, any success during the demonstrations would have a sizeable impact. I was captivated by the imagery of a modern military force augmented by the system.

Then, Priscilla surprised them with her proficiency with archery. While bows couldn't hold a candle to modern firearms, the feats she performed were still at a superhuman level. Her arrows shrieked when she let them loose, forming webs of cracks then they impaled jutting tree trunks. It was only a matter of time before her arrows started breaking the sound barrier with some degree of predictability.

Apinya decided not to take part in our little demonstration. He said that most of his skills would only be useful if healing was involved, or if his help was needed against undead "heathens", at least, for now.

Rachel and Noah were the last ones to demonstrate before me. Their progress had lagged behind, however that didn't mean they couldn't hold their own in a fight. They fired off simple fireballs, and blasts of air. Their proficiency with unstructured magic still didn't compare to my own. Especially since my advancement to Tier 2.

I stepped forward. Everyone's attention was glued onto me, the intensity of their focus somewhat disconcerting. But, I had agreed to provide a demonstration, and I wouldn't let the practice I had painstakingly endured over the past several days be wasted. As I lifted my hands outward, a grin slowly spread across my face. I stood tall and firm. My next actions would determine the confidence that the military held in our Community.

In front of me was a large clearing, perfect as a target for my spell. After all, only rubble and the slowly growing plant life remained. With my target in view, I began pulling at the swirling pool of mana within my mana core, directing a quarter of my total capacity through the fire mana gateway.

With a rush, a ludicrous amount of mana—at least compared to spells I had previously conjured—was siphoned from my mana networks. In between my outstretched hands, a flicker, then a ballooning fiery orb. The heat in the surrounding area rose several degrees, coinciding with the burgeoning activation of my spell. This was going to be a nasty one. With the number of improvements I've made ever since the battle at the leyline, it was certain. I realized that the hotter my spell, the more susceptible I would be to its side effects. Which is why my most recent breakthrough became all the more critical.

As the enormous amount of fire mana began to accumulate in front of me, I shifted much of the load for managing the spell to my left arm, while directing my other arm to begin pulling air mana from my core. It was an uncomfortable experience, pulling two types of mana through my mana network at the same time. However, its effects quickly became apparent. I used the air mana to create a protective air barrier between myself and the expanding sphere of fire. As soon as the barrier clicked into place, I directed the remaining air mana to push air into the devouring ball of flame. The result? It began to burn hotter as oxygen was added to the spell, more mana becoming unnecessary.

As the flames heated to an utterly insane temperature, I watched as the spell began to change colors, from a fiery red to a more yellowish flame.

Now, I had a choice. I could either attempt to compress it, raising its heat at the cost of size, and form a ball of plasmic lightning, or, I could do something a bit more interesting. I decided to go with something new, interesting, and maybe just a tad bit dangerous.

I raised the spell above my head, and I began to spin and compress the mana. Instead of compressing it from all sides, however, I simply squeezed it from above and below it, until it began to morph into a chaotic spinning disc, reminiscent of a destructo disc. It was a worthy name.

At this point, I normally would have hit my limit. Compressing the spell, while spinning it attempting to increase its heat through friction all at the same time was demanding. However, I had discovered that by using [Mana Sight], I could detect the more imperceptible flaws within the unstructured spell. The small flaws and imbalances, once corrected, caused the spell to undergo a substantial increase in its efficacy. While it was only about ten or fifteen percent, it was still sizeable.

Visually, the effect was a sudden increase in the already overbearing amount of heat, as well as a smoother rotation to the spell. Instead of flames being flung into the surroundings, they began to uniformly coalesce into the spell's rotational axis.

On my end, I was mostly fine, the air mana I was pushing out helped with the more immediate repercussions of such a heated spell, but to those who had been watching? They had to quickly move back to avoid being singed.

Already the Military Officers were growing impressed, and in some cases, terrified. The pure destructive power the destructo disc represented was immense.

I kept compressing and spinning the spell faster, trying to reach the absolute limits held by my intelligence and wisdom attributes. I had the time after all.

Once I began to feel my body beginning to sear—my health slowly ticking down—I knew there was nothing more to do. Clearly, I was going to have to find some way to deal with this. For now, I was satisfied with the extent of the spell. With a total of five hundred mana points spent, I was ready to release it.

The heat was like standing close to a raging furnace, and I could smell the acrid scent of cooking flesh, evidently my own. A hundred feet away, I focused on my target—a burnt-out husk of a house.

With a flurry of my magical prowess, I launched the spinning disc forward.

With a whizzing reminiscent of a jet engine, the spell launched through the air. Halfway through its trajectory, the disc began to expand, to flatten, until it was nearly as wide as I was tall, and as thin as a frisbee.

As the spell made contact with the jutting steel beams of the collapsed structure, it sheared straight through until it impacted the ground. For a split second, nothing happened, until a blinding flash of light, and a shockwave blasted throughout the surrounding area. Despite the presence of the midday sun, it was still blinding to anyone who had failed to cover their eyes.

The blast was like that of a fuel tanker exploding, blooming into the air, and causing the immediate vicinity to quake, and groan in response. It was as though a quarter ton of TNT had been set off. The awesome, raw power of the explosion baffling to the observing military officers.

The power of a Tier 2 class was no joke, and the skills I had gained through my class advancement clearly beneficial.

Ignoring a few skill level increase notifications, I focused on one that was a welcoming sight to my eyes.

I immediately took the skill. It was impossible to understate just how useful it would be in the future. Particularly if I continued to use spells as I had just done. In the back of my mind, another implication also became apparent. Eventually, the skill would allow me to gain a demonic resistance skill. Something that would be critical to repelling the invasion.

With my demonstration complete, and the smoke billowing in front of me, I smirked. I was growing to love the feeling of spell-flinging. Even though I felt a small headache, and some strain on my mana networks, it was clearly worth it as I skimmed over the reactions of the military officers. Even the members of the community were shocked at the destructive power I had displayed.

Several of the officers made comparisons of the impact of my spell with that of an artillery strike. The excitement across their faces was evident. After all, it wasn't a bad assessment to make.

After several moments of animated discussion, Captain Sherman walked over.

"You've convinced us, Thomas. With that display of destructive power, I'd have a hard time finding a reason not to make use of you or your people. If you're still up for it, we'd like to move forward with planning your participation in the assault on the bandit camp."

Nodding, I smiled, "of course, Captain Sherman," This was a significant step in the right direction. I felt as though a lot of progress had just been made in helping Camp Edward's accept the System as a tool instead of something to be suspicious of. Even then, I knew that the outcome of the coming operation would be a much more critical deciding factor in cementing that view.

Over the next day, battle plans were drawn for how we would deal with the threat of the bandit camp.