SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

Other spells, however, still required him to learn them through repeated trial and error like every other mage. Fortunately, Origin Spell Physique gave him a tremendous advantage over normal mages.

The one hundred percent increase to spell learning speed meant even ordinary training produced results much faster than it should. Although it couldn’t replace Talent entirely, it made every minute of practice worthwhile.

Five minutes passed quickly, and the group finally resumed moving through the dungeon. The tunnels had become nearly identical in size, making it impossible to tell which path served as the main passage.

After discussing it briefly, everyone agreed that the powerful monster chasing Joseph had likely driven him deeper underground, so they continued descending.

Glowing moss and clusters of coral illuminated the tunnels with a pale light. The ground had also become noticeably wetter, and every step left shallow footprints in the soft mud.

It looked as though this section of the dungeon had been underwater until not long ago.

The group continued cautiously until two Titan Reef Crabs appeared ahead of them. Neither resembled the monsters they had fought earlier. One was enormous, while the other was surprisingly small.

The larger Titan Reef Crab possessed a thick, heavy shell that seemed almost seamless. Alex couldn’t spot any vulnerable joints around its legs or eye stalks, and every step it took sank deep into the muddy ground.

Judging by its appearance alone, he was almost certain this was the same monster that had broken through the shield and chased Joseph and Yulia.

Standing beside it was a much smaller Titan Reef Crab. It was even smaller than the Level 6 monsters they had previously encountered, yet its front pincers were unusually long. The creature remained perfectly still, making it difficult to judge just how dangerous it really was.

Yulia’s eyes immediately locked onto the giant Titan Reef Crab. Rage flashed across her face, and she took a step forward as if she wanted to charge it immediately. Before anyone could stop her, the smaller crab disappeared.

It crossed the distance in an instant.

The monster appeared directly in front of Yulia before she could even react. One of its long pincers curved toward her neck, ready to clamp shut and slice clean through it.

Only Alex moved in time.

Mana flooded through his arm as he grabbed the back of Yulia’s collar and threw her backward with all his strength.

The pincer sliced through empty air where her neck had been only a fraction of a second earlier.

"Get into position! I’ll handle the fast one. The rest of you focus on the giant crab." Alex commanded.

No one hesitated.

Alex immediately reinforced his sword with Mana Thread as the smaller crab lunged again. He met the incoming pincer with a slash, and the glowing edge cut into the hard shell before stopping only a short distance inside.

That single exchange confirmed his suspicion.

Just like the giant monster, this Titan Reef Crab was above Level 10.

The crab attacked again without giving him any room to breathe. Both pincers shot toward him with astonishing speed, moving with far greater precision than the monsters he had fought before.

Instead of swinging them to crush him, it was trying to trap him between the two blades.

Alex instantly pushed Battle Instinct and his brain reinforcement to their limits. His thoughts accelerated as the monster’s movements became clearer, allowing him to read every slight adjustment in its attacks.

He ducked beneath one pincer, stepped backward to avoid the other, and immediately tried to close the distance.

The Titan Reef Crab retreated just as quickly as he advanced. It refused to let him enter sword range, attacking from a distance with its unnaturally long pincers.

Alex changed direction and dodged sideways again because blocking wasn’t an option. If those pincers ever closed around him instead of striking past him, escaping their grip would be impossible.

Despite the grim situation, Alex wasn’t worried. He could win this fight. It would probably cost him a few close calls and maybe even a few direct hits, but he was confident he could kill the Titan Reef Crab.

The monster was far stronger than the Level 10 Titan Reef Crabs, yet Alex had also grown considerably stronger since entering the dungeon.

Even so, the current situation did not satisfy him. He had come to enjoy fighting because every desperate battle forced him to adapt and improve.

Then, he realized a problem. Those improvements only came when he was struggling for every inch of his life.

Alex frowned. Was he only capable of growing stronger through life-and-death battles? If every improvement required him to fight a losing battle, then what was the point of becoming stronger in the first place?

He needed to change the way he fought. Instead of waiting for stronger enemies to force him to improve, he had to force himself to improve because he was learning. If he could do that, then he wouldn’t always have to gamble his life just to make progress.

With that thought in mind, Alex flooded his entire body with mana instead of reinforcing only specific muscles.

At the same time, he continued maintaining Mana Sense Spell even though he didn’t need it against a single opponent. Together with Battle Instinct Spell and Mana Thread Spell, the strain on his mind increased dramatically.

He didn’t stop there. Alex compressed even more mana before sending it throughout his body to strengthen the reinforcement further.

The pressure inside his head continued to build until it felt as though his mind was burning.

It left him with no room to focus on battle. He could only focus on controlling mana.

The Titan Reef Crab seized the opportunity and caught him around the waist with its pincers before he could dodge away. The crushing force threatened to split him in half, and Alex immediately swung his sword at the pincer, but the blade failed to cut through the monster’s shell.

Without wasting another moment, he pulled out his wand and started creating a Fire Bullet.

Forcing himself to cast a fifth spell pushed him to his limit. His vision blurred, and he nearly blacked out, yet he refused to stop. Little by little, the Fire Bullet began taking shape in front of him.

The Titan Reef Crab suddenly flinched.

As though it instinctively recognized the danger, it hurled Alex away before the spell could finish forming.

..

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