The night before Demo Day settled over the city like a heavy spell The streets glowed with flickering crystal lanterns the river reflected silver light and distant towers hummed with arcane energy Ethan stood outside ArcSpark watching the shadows of the city shift He sensed tension everywhere The world could feel something rising something unfamiliar and powerful People feared what they could not measure and ArcSpark was impossible to measure

Ethan walked through the warehouse one more time Its silence felt sacred Every station carried the imprint of effort Toren’s metal slabs Velra’s potion racks Lira’s summoning chalk Corren’s route map Mira’s healing logs the rune tiles the crystal matrix the necromancer’s practice lane The air still shimmered from the mana of hundreds of practice sessions Ethan breathed it in grounding himself

Suddenly footsteps approached A figure appeared at the door Halven the guild observer He carried no hostility only quiet curiosity He asked Ethan if he could speak inside Ethan nodded Halven entered studying the warehouse with measured eyes He said the guild leaders were divided Some feared ArcSpark Some respected it Some wanted it controlled Some wanted it shut down Ethan responded calmly saying innovation always challenged structures because structures feared losing power

Halven asked Ethan a direct question Why are you doing this You are not from here You owe this world nothing Ethan looked at him firmly and replied Because potential deserves shape and people deserve chances Because stagnation kills worlds faster than chaos Because I believe magic is not meant to be locked away in dusty halls It is meant to build lives Halven absorbed the words silently His expression softened

He warned Ethan that some guild members might attend Demo Day with intentions unclear Ethan said he expected that Halven advised caution and stepped out into the night disappearing without a sound Ethan knew Halven was not an enemy Perhaps even the opposite A quiet bridge in a storm

Not long after Halven left another group approached This time merchants carrying lanterns Their leader the spice trader asked Ethan whether tomorrow they would see real value or just flashy shows Ethan assured them his founders built stability consistency and service not illusions The merchants remained wary but something about Ethan’s calm stirred trust They said they would attend Demo Day if only to judge with their own eyes

After they left Ethan felt the weight of responsibility settle deeper The founders were depending on him and the world was watching He walked back into the warehouse and closed the door The glow of the mana tile cast long shadows across the dusty floor Ethan sat on a crate and reviewed every founder’s progress in his mind Their strengths their gaps their confidence points their likely questions He prepared responses support strategies ways to stabilize their nerves

Hours passed The moon climbed higher Ethan remained awake He thought about his old life Venture meetings Pitch decks Long nights in shared office spaces The early founders he believed in The ones who failed The ones who changed industries He had never imagined applying that life in a world of mana and spells and guild politics Yet here he was building something bigger than he could have built back home A system born from two worlds fused by necessity and vision

Eventually Ethan stood and walked to each station whispering encouragement Toren precision Lira reliability Velra consistency Mira clarity Corren steadiness Rune and crystal synergy Necromancer purpose He could not cast magic but he could shape it through those who did And that was its own kind of power

When he finished he stepped outside The air was cool and still The city quiet except for distant crackles of magic and the sound of water moving against the riverbank Ethan felt something rising inside him not fear not pressure but anticipation A belief that tomorrow would not simply change ArcSpark It would change the entire realm

He whispered softly as dawn threatened the horizon Tomorrow we show them a new future

Then he turned back toward the warehouse ready to meet Demo Day with every skill he carried from his old world and every hope he had built in this one