SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

Alex stared at the notification. A white orb appeared near his feet, and for a moment, he wondered if he had really obtained another SSS Rank item from a Silver Reward Box.

That was far beyond what he had expected. He picked up the orb, and a status screen appeared.

[Talent Strengthening Orb (SSS Rank)]

[Maaa! This guy is definitely cheating!]

[Effect: Allows you to strengthen your Talent.]

Alex’s heart began pounding, and he could not deny that he was excited. What would happen if he used an SSS Rank Talent Strengthening Orb on his SSS Rank Talent?

There was only one way to find out. Alex willed the orb to be used, and it immediately melted into his hand. A strange sensation spread through his body as he felt something change within him.

He quickly brought up his Status Screen and focused on his Talent.

[Spell Evolution Talent (SSS Rank).]

[Holy shit! You can evolve Spells?! I’ve never seen it before! Use it! Let me see how it works!]

[Effect: Upon mastering a Spell, you will be given choices to evolve your Spell into. If two compatible spells have been fully mastered, they can be fused to gain stronger spell evolutions.]

Alex stared at the description. The Talent’s rank had remained the same, but its effect had changed. Previously, it had allowed him to evolve spells after mastering them, but now it also allowed him to fuse compatible spells together when both had reached Level 10. That was incredible.

Alex already knew how powerful his Talent was, and this new effect would make it even more useful. He could hardly wait until he mastered two compatible spells and discovered what kind of evolution they could produce when fused together.

At the same time, another question appeared in his mind. Why had the Talent’s rank not increased? The orb itself was SSS Rank, so Alex had initially expected his Talent to become something beyond SSS Rank after being strengthened.

Did that mean he needed another Talent Strengthening Orb to increase its rank further, or was SSS Rank simply the highest possible rank? Or was there something else he did not know? Alex’s mind was drawn to the Relativity of Ranks topics that had been trending on the news recently. He should check that when he got internet connection next time.

Alex put the question aside for now. Although he had failed to learn the Advanced Battle Instinct Spell, he had still obtained something extremely valuable.

His mood improved considerably. He did feel a little bummed out about needing days to learn the spell, but just knowing the spell would be stronger than other spells made him feel the wait might be worth it. Thirty minutes had also passed, so it was time to leave.

Alex stood up and looked toward the rooftop entrance. Before leaving, however, his eyes settled on Mia, who was sitting nearby.

There was something he wanted to ask the cat.

"Mia, come here," he said.

The cat immediately came toward him and rubbed herself affectionately against his leg. It seemed she was still worried about his mood, even though Alex had already calmed himself down with the Battle Instinct Spell.

"I’m fine, Mia. But let’s talk about you. Are you an Ascendant? Did you kill the monsters in Jaelo Supermarket?" Alex asked as he crouched down to meet the cat’s eyes.

Mia simply stared at him. Alex waited for an answer, but the cat remained completely silent.

"I know you can understand me because of the collar. Don’t try to play dumb," he said.

Mia still did not respond. Alex actually hoped that her silence meant she was not an Ascendant, but a part of him was already convinced that she was.

The fact that she was deliberately acting as though she could not understand him despite wearing the collar was suspicious enough. He also remembered how confidently she had been roaming around the streets even when monsters were nearby, which was something she could never have done before the apocalypse.

Mia had always been a scaredy cat, so seeing her behave like this after the apocalypse was impossible to ignore. There had to be a reason for such a drastic change.

Alex sighed as he looked at her. He could not lie and say that he was not hurt by the thought that Mia had been hiding something from him, because she was not just an ordinary cat to him.

She was part of his family. Alex had spent years with her through happy times, sad times, and everything in between, and he had always believed that Mia was attached to him just as much as he was attached to her.

Realizing that she had apparently been hiding her true nature made him feel somewhat betrayed. However, the clues were too obvious now, and Alex was certain that Mia was an Ascendant.

Alex understood why she would want to hide it. Even if she possessed intelligence and could understand human speech, most people would still see her as a monster if they discovered she was an Ascendant cat, and there was a good chance they would try to kill her.

From Mia’s perspective, pretending to be an ordinary cat was the safest choice. Alex knew that her decision was logical, but understanding it did not mean he felt good about it.

He could not help wondering why she had not trusted him enough to reveal the truth. After everything they had been through together, he had thought she would trust him.

"Okay," he said.

Alex stood up, and there was a faint disappointment in his voice. He turned toward the rooftop door and took a step forward, but then he heard a meow.

Alex stopped. He was still using the Battle Instinct Spell, and he had been constantly maintaining it to keep the Lightning Element Rune around his heart stable.

Because of that, his mind was constantly processing information around him, allowing him to notice something that would normally have been easy to miss. Mia was at his feet, yet the meow had come from somewhere behind him, and the distance was far too great for her to have moved there in the short moment between his steps.

..

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