I'm The Only One With Cancer-Chapter 164: Final Phase of the Experiment

At this moment, the five could not help but feel a little bittersweet as they witnessed Zen’s skills.

Each of them had once been a member of the Twilight Task Force of the past.

And even though they had not used swords and other medieval weapons aside from daggers, they could still feel the mastery that Zen was showing them at this moment.

Knowing that he had been bedridden for the major part of his life, they surmised that everything he was showing them at this instance was from the Free World.

As such, the current test served two purposes.

The first one was to observe the behavior of mana and how "magic" really worked.

While the second reason was to witness the power of the Free World itself.

In the capsule, Zen had just finished showing off his mastery of the various cold weapons he formed from mana.

’Showing off really makes me feel good...’

It took him all his strength to prevent the corner of his lips from curling upwards.

Maintaining a calm expression, he looked through the thick glass and waited for Veronica’s signal.

Bzz— Bzz—

[Thank you, Zen. We’ve collected enough data regarding the basic properties of mana. Moving forward, please show us... magic.]

Nodding calmly, Zen fell into deep thought for a moment.

Seeing his state, Hassan could not help but comment, "What is he doing?"

"Maybe he needs to focus before casting magic?" Veronica promptly replied.

Margareth also chimed in, "It’s like that infection, right? There are those stories that require images or wizards to form complete formulas before casting magic..."

"Yeah... I agree. Maybe casting magic isn’t that easy..." Olivia commented as well.

Meanwhile, Ethan pushed up his glasses, "Let’s just see for now. It’s not like we’re rushing or anything..."

Unbeknownst to them, Zen’s mind was in chaos.

’I’m so excited to show off! I can cast magic right away, but I want them to feel a bit thrilled...’

But not in the way they could have ever expected.

’What should I do... Should I use some flashy magic to make them surprised?’

This thought had just risen in Zen’s mind before he chased it away with a shake of his head.

’Nah, Aunt Veronica mentioned earlier that they needed me to focus on changing the properties of mana. So, I should just keep it basic for now...’

As he finished thinking, Zen slowly raised his right hand.

The light blue fog in the surroundings gradually gathered towards it and clumped into a mana sphere under his precise control.

Tik— Wuv!

Then, with a snap of his finger, the clustered light blue fog suddenly ignited and formed a ball of fire.

"Woah..."

Outside the capsule, a gasp escaped from the bulky Hassan’s lips.

Even Ethan could not help but smile, "Even though I expected this..."

"It’s amazing... " Olivia seemed to have read his mind as she chimed in.

Margareth’s pale pink eyes were also sparkling, "I can’t believe that I’m getting excited at this age... For once, I really want to enter that so-called Free World and try it out myself..."

"Come on, we’re not that old. Besides, anyone would be excited seeing this..." Veronica responded with a smile.

Then, under their gazes, Zen snapped his fingers a couple more times.

Tik— Bzt!

A sphere of blue lightning crackled, appearing by his side.

Tik— Splash!

A ball of water appeared around him.

Tik— Crash!

A sphere made of earthen cluster materialized as well.

Tik— Wooh!

A green ball of compressed wind blades appeared.

At this moment, five spheres of various elements were now rotating around Zen.

Outside the capsule, Ethan, Veronica, and Olivia were frantically pushing numerous buttons to the point that their hands were beginning to blur.

Their eyes were also not leaving the screens in front of them as they multitasked.

"Amazing..."

Meanwhile, as the three got busy, Margareth and Hassan had their lips in an "o" shape as they could not help but be repeatedly amazed by Zen’s magic.

After a few minutes of showing off, Zen could not help but feel pleased with himself.

’Hmm, what should I do...’

In the next moment, Zen’s eyes suddenly lit up.

He manipulated the wind and flame spheres to collide.

Wooh— Wuvvv!!!

In an instant, a blazing tornado appeared inside the capsule.

"!!!"

Outside, Margareth and the others’ eyes were opened wide in shock.

"How’s the equipment managing the rise in temperature?" Veronica asked in worry.

"W-Well..."

Ethan stammered in response, making her even more agitated, "What do you mean, well?"

"It’ll be easier to look at it with your own eyes."

Hearing the confusion in his voice, Veronica and the others took a peek at the screen that showed the current predicament of various equipment in the lab.

The section of the platform where Zen was currently was being displayed.

"This..."

Veronica’s voice rang with both confusion and astonishment.

"What happened?"

Margareth asked curiously, while Hassan looked curious as well.

Olivia was the one who responded as she did a double-take on the screen.

"I-It’s strange... Because even though we can see the fire tornado inside the capsule, the screen that was displaying the diagnostics of the equipment shows no drastic changes in the temperature."

Her words made Margareth frown, "Then, are those flames fake?"

"No."

Ethan fixed his glasses, the smile on his face widening, "This only means that he can control the temperature of the flames."

"Eh?"

Hassan gasped, finding Zen even more amazing.

Inside the capsule, after stabilizing the fire tornado, Zen manipulated the various spheres rotating around him.

Firstly, the lightning sphere collided with the fire tornado.

Wooh— Crackle— Wuvvv—!!!

The tornado became even larger as a mix of wind, fire, and lightning raged within it.

Zen was not finished.

While he was precisely manipulating the volatile elements inside the tornado to ensure that they would not suddenly explode, he mobilized the earthen sphere as it collided with the platform.

In an instant, a miniature mountain around a meter tall formed in front of him.

With his intricate control, the toado made of wind, fire, and lightning, collided with the miniature mountain.

Boom—!

A loud sound erupted, but strangely, the flames and any damage were only contained within the miniature mountain’s parameters.

Not even a hint of flame could be seen on the metallic platform.

Then, glancing at the remaining watersphere beside him, Zen waved his hand, turning it into a small cloud that rained upon the miniature mountain.

This lasted for a moment before the flames on the mountains were fully extinguished.

Now, what only remained was a partially charred miniature mountain with a river forming within the crevices that the tornado had damaged earlier.

And, with the final wave of Zen’s hand, everything turned into a light blue fog and disappeared.

’Should I take a bow...?’

Thinking of something random, Zen could not help but chuckle inwardly.

However, just as he thought that the experiment was finished, the speaker emitted some static noises once again, followed by a beautiful voice.

[Thank you, Zen. We have now accumulated abundant data regarding magic. Originally, this should be where the experiment ends, but...]

After a slight pause, Veronica continued speaking through the microphone.

[We’d like to ask if you have any means of attacking?]

Seeing Zen nod in response, Veronica spoke once again. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

[For the final phase of the experiment, we would like you to produce two attacks. The first one is preferably a "skill" from the game, while the other should be the most lethal attack you can muster. Of course, we might not be able to contain your most lethal attack, so please keep it at a level where you can freely control it.]

Zen seemed to fall into deep thought for a short moment before he raised his head and met the five’s eyes through the thick glass window.

’This is the first time I’ll be using skills outside the game, but... I think I can do that...’ He thought as he nodded firmly.

Even though this was his first time, the ability to sense everything he had in the game in reality prompted Zen to believe that he could use skills as well, despite the absence of the System.

After all, he had tried calling up his status panel in the past, but was unsuccessful.

Bzzt—

[Feel free to start whenever you’re ready. You can just aim your attack at the glass wall.]

Zen took a deep breath and raised his hand above his head in a "hand chop" form.

’If this doesn’t work, I’ll just use magic again...’

He breathed deeply and chanted.

[Fire Weapon Art, First Style: Ember]

Along with his chant, he struck with his hand in a downward vertical slash.

Outside the capsule, Margareth and the others only saw Zen’s lips opening as if he was saying something before a dense, powerful cluster of flames suddenly shot out along with his action.

Wooov—!!!

Ring— Ring— Ring—

Alarms were sounding as the whole room trembled the moment the wave of flame made contact with the glass wall.

Crack— Crack—

Cracks spread throughout the glass wall, but fortunately, it did not shatter.

Veronica glanced at Margareth and Ethan, who then both nodded as she spoke through the microphone.

Bzzt—

[Please don’t mind the damage, and proceed with your next attack.]

’Are they sure about this?’

A smirk appeared on Zen’s lips as he began to speak; the excitement of showing off in his heart also reached its peak.

"Mana, I implore you..."