A soft, warm energy spread throughout Alex’s body. He could feel his mind becoming more attuned toward quickly learning about spells, while his body changed to allow mana to flow more smoothly, and his Mana Heart also seemed to be improving.
Before Alex could fully understand the changes, another series of System notifications appeared.
[Cast into Hell without warning, you faced death with nothing but your wits, and slew the monster before you.]
[Again and again, you faced danger, challenging monsters greater than yourself so that you might grow stronger.]
[You walked through pain, through exhaustion, through endless hordes of monsters, without hesitation.]
[To others, you were a hero.]
[A light in the darkness, showing them the path when they could not find their own.]
[You saved them. You taught them. You raised them.]
[Though monsters left scars upon your soul, you did not let hatred consume you. You protected the one precious to you.]
[You slew monsters as vast as mountains, thwarted the invasion of the horrors beyond, and saved countless lives.]
[Congratulations, Alex Mercer.]
[Your deeds have been witnessed. Your trials have been endured. Your path has been recorded.]
[We wish you luck. May you achieve Ascension.]
Alex stared at the message with slight surprise. The usually ridiculous System was actually praising him seriously, and seeing his experiences summarized like that made him realize how much had happened since he entered Hell Difficulty.
More notifications soon appeared.
[You have ranked up. Initiate Rank → Adept Rank.]
[Strength (+1), Agility (+1), Constitution (+1), Mana (+5), Mind (+5)]
[Spell Slots (+2)]
Alex felt the changes throughout his body, but the increases to Mana and Mind caught his attention the most. Both would directly help him develop and use his spells, making the improvement especially valuable for him. He winced slightly and focused more on using the Blood Vitalization Spell to handle the increased amount of mana. It was easier now, thanks to his increased Mind and the fact that he no longer needed to concentrate on maintaining the Lightning Elemental Rune.
He was pleasantly surprised to see his Spell slots had increased.
Then the most important notification appeared.
[Your Mage Class has evolved into Runesmith Class.]
[You can choose an E Rank Elemental Rune of your choice: Fire Elemental Rune, Water Elemental Rune, Earth Elemental Rune, Wind Elemental Rune, Kinetic Elemental Rune, Life Elemental Rune, Lightning Element Rune.]
Alex was pleasantly surprised when he saw the options listed by the System. He was especially pleased to see that there was also a Life Element Rune among them, because he had not expected such an option to appear.
He wondered why it was available to him. He had already theorized that the System had been influencing the cultures of Earth, and in most games and movies he had seen, the basic elemental runes were usually Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind.
Yet he had received three additional options: Life, Kinetic, and Lightning. It seemed likely that he had obtained these choices because he had personally interacted with those types of Mana.
The Lightning Element Rune was currently floating above his palm. He had also used Joseph’s Kinetic Wand for a short time in Hell Difficulty to perform some tests, while the Principal’s healing skill had most likely used Life Mana.
Alex was quite happy to have access to Life Element Mana. It could potentially be extremely useful, especially considering the problems he had been having with his body’s increasing energy requirements.
Before choosing the rune, however, another detail caught his attention. The System had specifically stated that the runes available to him were E Rank.
This was the first time Alex had learned that runes themselves had ranks. He immediately wondered what rank the Fire Element Rune inside his Fire Wand was and what rank the Lightning Element Rune currently floating beside him possessed.
’Their rank must be F Rank, or maybe even lower. That would explain why I had to use so much mana to create elemental mana,’ he thought.
The mana cost had never been a serious problem for Alex because he possessed an enormous amount of mana. However, that could become troublesome once he started using higher-ranked spells, because if his runes had poor conversion efficiency, even someone with his massive mana reserves could eventually struggle to supply enough energy. So, it was a good thing he got the option to choose better runes here.
There was no need for him to spend much time thinking about which rune he wanted. There was only one option that truly called out to him.
[Life Element Rune learned.]
[Life Element Rune, E Rank.]
[I Am Groot!]
[Effect: Allows you to convert your mana into life element mana.]
Information immediately flowed into Alex’s mind. He stopped practicing the Elastic Trap Spell and began creating the Life Element Rune according to the knowledge he had just received.
The rune gradually formed in front of him, and Alex carefully maintained its structure. Since he had not compressed the mana too much, the rune was able to pass through his body when he brought it toward his arm.
The rune absorbed the essence of life within his body. It seemed to gain life of its own as its structure stabilized, and soon it began pulsing with a soft green light.
It was so beautiful that Alex could not help staring at it for a moment. Joy surged through his heart, as his SSS Rank Origin Spell Physique seemed to leap in excitement at the presence of the Life Element Rune.
Alex smiled faintly before using his Will to harden the rune above his palm. As he attempted to do so, he quickly noticed several important things about the process.
The first was something he had observed before. The thicker the mana he tried to harden, the more Will and concentration it required. The increase was exponential, meaning that even a relatively small increase in the amount of mana could greatly increase the difficulty of hardening it.
The second discovery was even more important. The more compressed the mana became, the less Will was required to harden it.
Alex immediately activated his Advanced Battle Instinct Spell at full power. He flooded his soul with mana, generating a tremendous amount of Will before directing that Will toward the rune.
He compressed the mana inside the rune to its absolute limit and then used the enormous amount of Will he had generated to harden it. The process took considerable concentration, but eventually, the structure stabilized completely.
Alex then slowly stopped maintaining his direct control over the rune. Although he knew that a properly hardened rune should remain stable for an entire day, the habit he had developed from constantly holding onto the Lightning Element Rune made him hesitant to let go.
Finally, he released the rune completely. The Life Element Rune continued floating above his palm without collapsing. A wave of relief and sense of achievement washed over Alex when he saw it remain stable, confirming that his understanding of the process had been correct.
He then began pouring his mana into the floating rune, while it was being circled by the lightning element rune on his palm. One side of the Life Element Rune absorbed his mana, while the other side released Life Element Mana.
Alex carefully controlled the Life Mana and brought it into his body. Almost immediately, he could feel his stamina beginning to recover, and the sensation was extremely refreshing.
His biggest concern had finally been addressed. His stamina had been struggling to keep up with the energy demands of his increasingly powerful body, but Life Mana gave him a reliable way to replenish that stamina.
Alex continued using the Life Element Rune while observing its performance. He soon noticed that it did not consume nearly as much mana as the Fire Element Rune and Lightning Element Rune did when converting his mana into elemental mana.
’As I thought. Those two runes must only be F Rank, while this one is E Rank.’
The difference in efficiency was obvious. A higher-ranked rune clearly provided a much better conversion rate. It made Alex happy with the Life Element Rune. He smiled faintly as he continued bathing in the refreshing Life Mana and felt his stamina gradually return.
Then, more System notifications appeared.
[Accumulated EXP will now be consumed.]
[You have leveled up. Level 11...]
..
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