SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

This explained why corpses offered almost no resistance, while plants offered more resistance and humans offered considerably more. The stronger the Will of a living creature, the greater the resistance it could naturally provide against foreign mana.

Alex had been strengthening his soul, which had also strengthened his Will. Because of that, the Wild Orc’s Origin Energy could no longer enter his body as easily, allowing him to move even without actively using mana to defend himself.

Eventually, Ophelia managed to move.

A few seconds later, Tina, Sophia, and Ben also regained control of their bodies. Sophia immediately moved toward Rae and prepared to take the elderly woman farther away from the Wild Orc’s range so that Rae could use her sniper rifle from a safer position.

Ophelia and Tina also prepared to move.

Ben hesitated, and before he could decide whether to follow them, Alex spoke. "Ben, stay here. You will fight later, but not now."

Ben nodded with a conflicted expression. There was some relief in his eyes at not having to fight the Wild Orc, but there was also shame because Alex’s words had made it clear that he was not strong enough to participate yet.

Alex noticed his expression and spoke again. "Don’t worry about being weak. That’s normal because we’re all only starting to grow stronger. The only thing you need to focus on is getting stronger from here onward."

Ben nodded again, this time with a little more confidence. He understood that Alex was not looking down on him, but simply telling him that there was no reason to throw away his life trying to fight an opponent he was not ready to face.

...

Tina moved through the streets with Ophelia, using alleys, wrecked cars, and ruined buildings as cover while slowly approaching the Wild Orc. The closer they got, the larger the monster seemed, and although it was only about half the size of the Wild Orcs Alex had killed earlier, it was still a massive creature.

Tina’s heart was beating wildly.

’I just need to kill the Wild Orc. Alex will take care of the spear,’ she told herself, but the thought did little to calm her nerves.

She could still see the enormous creature ahead, and knowing that one mistake could result in her death made it difficult to ignore the fear building inside her.

Ophelia was beside her, gripping the spear she had received from Robert tightly. Tina took several deep breaths as they reached the final stretch and hid behind the remains of a damaged building, but she was already sweating heavily, and the sound of her own blood rushing through her ears was so loud that she could barely hear anything else.

She looked down at her trembling arms and clenched her fists. She was afraid, and there was a very real possibility that she could die here, but she forced herself to calm down and reminded herself why she had decided to come.

Tina knew the story Alex had told them about Hell Difficulty was not complete. He must have fought desperately just to survive and grow stronger, because there was no other reasonable explanation for how far he had surpassed every other Mage.

She needed to do the same.

Not because she wanted to surpass Alex, but because she wanted to help him. Alex and Kevin both had sisters in danger, and if Tina could not pull her weight from this point onward, then she would not be able to help either of them and would instead become another person Alex needed to protect.

Was Tina scared?

Yes, she was.

But for some reason, she was also excited. The rush of battle and the knowledge that everything could depend on what happened in the next few moments reminded her of why she had loved boxing.

That feeling before a fight had always been addictive, but the excitement she felt now was even greater than anything she had experienced before stepping into a boxing ring. This was not a match where she could simply lose and try again later, and that made every decision feel far more important.

Tina took one final breath and looked toward Ophelia. "Let’s move."

Ophelia nodded, and the two of them sprang out from their cover at the same time, using their Aura to strengthen their bodies and pushing themselves toward the Wild Orc at full speed.

The monster noticed them almost immediately and let out a roar before moving, and the next moment, its massive leg was already raised above them as it tried to crush them.

The Wild Orc moved so quickly that Tina barely saw it happen. Ophelia managed to dodge in time, likely because she had used her Predictive Reflex Technique, but Tina was much slower and only barely rolled away before the foot slammed into the ground.

The impact sent a powerful shockwave through the area. Tina was thrown backward and crashed into a nearby car, the force knocking the air out of her chest as she struggled to stand.

Her legs nearly gave out again, and she dropped to her knees with blood dripping from her nose. Her head was ringing badly, but despite the pain, a tiny smile unconsciously appeared on her face because there was something strangely exciting about fighting an opponent this powerful.

Tina raised her head and saw Ophelia dodging as the Wild Orc crouched down and tried to grab her. This was part of their plan, because the monster was so large that it had to crouch whenever it wanted to catch them, and according to Alex, unless they caused serious damage, it would probably treat them like interesting insects rather than immediately trying to kill them with its strongest attacks.

Tina increased the output of her Aura and tried to compress it, copying the way Alex compressed his mana to improve its quality. The threat of death had pushed her mind into overdrive, allowing her to compress her Aura far better than she had ever managed before.

..

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