SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

Alex felt a sense of satisfaction when he saw the notifications appear, but he did not let his guard down.

He had understood that the appearance of the notifications meant the battle had ended, yet he still did not know everything about how the system determined the battle status. There was a chance that some enemies were still hiding nearby and had not attacked, which could have caused the notifications to appear even though the danger had not completely passed.

He continued observing his surroundings while checking the notifications one by one. His attention moved between the information displayed before him and the area around him, making sure there was no sudden movement or incoming attack that he had missed during the battle.

The controller-type Wild Orc was a Wild Orc Shaman. It was a Mid rank species, which explained its ridiculous ability to absorb Will and its powerful Origin Energy. Seeing its level, Alex could not help but smile faintly.

The Wild Orc Shaman was Level 11. After going beyond Level 10, monsters experienced a huge increase in combat strength, so although there was only a single level between Alex and the Wild Orc Shaman, the actual difference between them was much greater than the numbers suggested.

Moreover, the Wild Orc Shaman was a Mid rank species while Alex was still a Low rank species. The difference in species rank made the result even more significant, and it showed that Alex had been growing stronger.

The effort he had put into improving himself was producing results. Of course, the Wild Orc Shaman was a support-type monster rather than a true fighter. If it had been a powerful combat-type Wild Orc with the same level and species rank, the battle might have ended differently, but that did not diminish what Alex had accomplished.

He had still defeated a monster that was one entire normal rank and one species rank above him.

The spell level-ups were another pleasant gain from the battle. It was easy to understand why Lightning Reflex Spell and Mana Blade had improved, especially since both had been used repeatedly throughout the fight. Lightning Reflex Spell had even increased by two levels, which was particularly useful.

What surprised Alex was the increase in Blood Vitalization Spell. After thinking about it for a moment, he realized what had happened, as he had been pumping a huge amount of mana from his heart to create Fire Bullets throughout the battle. He was putting more mana into each Fire Bullet than most Mages would have in their entire mana reserves, and because he was also using Blood Vitalization Spell continuously, he must have lost focus several times and ended up pumping a huge amount of mana into the blood cells leaving his heart. It was a good mistake. The result had allowed Blood Vitalization Spell to level up, giving him another useful improvement without him having to deliberately train it.

The level-ups of Elastic Thread Spell and Advanced Body Instinct Spell were also valuable. Both would allow him to fight more effectively, and Elastic Thread Spell was especially useful because he had already found several applications for it through Mana Sense Spell and his Bullets.

Advanced Battle Instinct Spell was surprising as well. Alex instinctively understood that this spell was difficult to level up, so even a single level increase was good news.

Then there was Mana Bullet. The spell had jumped two levels at once, which was extremely difficult considering it was already Level 8, and it had now been mastered and could evolve. Alex immediately wanted to check the available evolution options, but this was not the place for it.

Alex glanced to the side and saw Roan take a water bottle out of thin air, most likely from his inventory. Roan drank several large mouthfuls before pouring the rest of the bottle over his head, then hissed when the water ran across his injuries without seeming to care that his clothes were getting soaked.

After taking a long breath, he looked toward Alex with a smile, and for the first time since Alex had met him today, there was genuine warmth in his expression.

"You are a monster," Roan said.

Alex nodded without saying anything in return. There was no need to explain himself, especially when both of them were still standing in the middle of the battlefield and had not yet finished dealing with the aftermath.

Roan took another water bottle from his inventory and handed it to Alex. Alex thanked him before drinking deeply, and the water felt refreshing as it passed through his dry throat. He washed his face with some of it before finally speaking.

"We will take a five-minute break, then move."

"That is quite a short break. Are you worried about the Wild Orc leader?" Roan asked as he looked at him.

"Yes. It can tell when the Wild Orcs under it die, and we just killed more than ten of them along with a Mid rank species. It will definitely start preparing for us, so we need to reach it before it has enough time to complete those preparations," Alex said.

Roan stared at Alex for a moment before muttering, "We killed more than ten Wild Orcs..."

He seemed slightly dazed by the realization, but after a moment, he shook it off and looked at Alex again.

"What exactly is a Mid rank species?" Roan asked.

"I will explain it later. For now, we should start collecting the Gene Potentials and Elemental Stones," Alex replied.

Roan did not answer immediately. Instead, his eyes moved over Alex’s body, taking in the injuries.

"Will you really be okay moving around already? You look pretty bad right now, so you should rest while I collect the Gene Potentials and Elemental Stones," Roan asked.

"I can manage," Alex said.

The two of them got to work. Roan did not argue much because he understood that a timer had effectively started the moment they killed so many Wild Orcs, and neither of them knew how long they had before the Wild Orc leader reacted, or what it was preparing.

Alex continued keeping watch while they worked, his attention frequently shifting toward the sky. The Wild Orc leader would probably not throw more spears, but there was no reason to become careless. As long as they remained in its range, Alex preferred to assume that another attack could come at any moment.

While collecting the items, Alex occasionally glanced at Roan. The guy had been hit cleanly by a flying car during the battle, and he had probably taken several other attacks as well, yet he was still moving around without any major problems. Clearly, a Constitution-focused stat build was something outrageous.

Alex still liked his Mana-focused stat build. It suited his Talent, and allowed him to unleash several spells without worrying about running out of mana. A normal mage would’ve been emptied after using only four-five Alex’s Fire Bullets. That said, Alex’s condition was bad. Thankfully, none of his internal organs had been completely destroyed, so a Priest or leveling up should be able to repair them, but several of his organs were ruptured and in terrible condition. If he had not continuously used mana to patch his wounds during the battle, he would have died before the fight ended.

Despite how close he had come to death, Alex could not stop himself from smiling faintly. The battle had been worth it, and the rewards were not limited to the spell level-ups he had received. He had gained several other things that were arguably even more important.

The first was his understanding of Will. Because he had been forced to compress and pour huge amounts of Will into his spells in a short period of time, he had finally gained a real understanding of how to harden mana with Will. He now believed that learning Mana Circuit Spell would not take him too long, since what remained was mostly a matter of practice.

The second was Mana Sense Spell. The spell had not leveled up despite how heavily he had relied on it during the battle, but that was intentional because Alex had been holding back its use. It was already Level 9, and if it reached Level 10, the spell would receive evolution options based on how he had used it.

After seeing the Wild Orc Shaman, Alex had come up with a ridiculous idea for Mana Sense Spell. If his idea worked, he might be able to solve one of the spell’s biggest weaknesses, which was the fact that it currently worked along only one axis. He wanted to train this method before allowing the spell to level up, so there was a chance the evolution options would include the new application.

If his idea worked, his combat strength would see a considerable jump. That was why he had deliberately restrained Mana Sense Spell during the battle. He wanted to make sure his efforts shaped the spell in the direction he wanted before reaching Level 10.

This was not everything Alex had gained, however. His eyes glinted as he reached down and picked up the staff that had belonged to the Wild Orc Shaman.

He believed this Staff of the Wild Orc was responsible for the monster’s ability to absorb Will from its targets, and he wanted to understand exactly how it accomplished that.

Alex examined the staff carefully and a screen appeared in front of his eyes.

[Staff of Faith (SS Rank)]

[Wow, you actually defeated a mage killer so early in the apocalypse. It’s so ironic that a mana obsessed pervert like you is such a combat genius.]

[Effect: Allows Priests to improve their rate of Faith increase.]

..

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