SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

He looked back at the laptop screen. He didn’t care much about people from the other Difficulties, but Hell Difficulty was different.

Alex’s group was surviving for now, yet he knew how quickly everything could fall apart if a Level 11 or even a Level 10 Mid-Rank Species monster appeared.

After thinking for a few seconds, Alex made his decision. He stood up, tore a sheet from his notebook, and quickly drew a rough map of the island from memory.

He carefully left out the location of the dungeon where his group was resting and instead marked a point some distance away from it. He didn’t draw the blue cross either.

He took a picture of the map and uploaded it to Dwitter. Then he attached a short message beneath the image.

[I’m Alex Mercer, a Mage from Hell Difficulty. My group has found the terrain of the area where we were summoned. If the other people from Hell Difficulty are on the same island as us, I propose that we gather and work together. By now, all of you should have seen what kind of place Hell Difficulty is. Our best chance of surviving is by staying together.]

Alex read through the message one last time before pressing the post button.

The location he had marked was far from the dungeon where his group was resting, so he wasn’t revealing their hiding place.

Even so, he understood there were risks in bringing more people together.

A larger group could just as easily attract trouble as it could solve problems. However, after weighing both sides, Alex believed the benefits were greater than the risks.

More people meant more information, more combat power, and a better chance of surviving whatever came next.

He still found it suspicious that System summoned so many people of Hell Difficulty in the same place. There must be something incredibly dangerous waiting for them, so dangerous that even grouping together would barely increase their chances of victory.

There was another reason for making the post. The new Tutorial Quest required them to establish a faction, and Alex doubted that objective had been given without reason.

If the system expected people to form factions this early, then groups would almost certainly become important later.

His post spread much faster than he had expected. Alex had assumed it would disappear beneath the thousands of new posts appearing every minute, but within moments it had already gathered over five thousand views.

He refreshed the page and opened the comments.

[Hahaha! Look at this guy. He even uploaded a map to make himself look authentic.]

[Lmao. He’s just another clout chaser pretending to be from Hell Difficulty.]

[Bro, if you’re going to lie, at least don’t choose Mage. There’s no way a Mage returns this quickly from the hardest difficulty.]

Alex frowned as he read through them. The growing number of views was encouraging, but the comments were almost entirely negative. That wasn’t a problem by itself, yet it could create another one.

He didn’t care if these people believed him or not. His concern was that someone actually trapped in Hell Difficulty might read those comments first and dismiss the map as fake.

If that happened, they could ignore the chance to meet other survivors. That was the exact opposite of what Alex wanted.

The reason he had shared the map was simple. Anyone capable of crossing the island’s forests and reaching the marked location would already have proven they possessed considerable strength. The island was filled with dangerous monsters, and weak people wouldn’t survive the journey.

Alex had already seen how much difference capable teammates made in battle. Better coordination meant fewer injuries, faster hunts, and higher efficiency.

If stronger survivors joined them, he would gladly welcome them.

’I need to prove that I’m legit,’ he thought.

The negative comments continued increasing every time he refreshed the page. If he could demonstrate enough strength, then even people who doubted his story would at least take his warning seriously.

Alex picked up his phone and switched on the camera. He planned to record a short demonstration instead of arguing in the comments.

Showing something with his own hands would be far more convincing than typing another explanation.

He wasn’t worried about revealing part of his strength online. Before learning that monsters had appeared on Earth, he had intended to hide his abilities as carefully as possible. That plan no longer made sense because he would eventually have to fight monsters in public anyway.

Of course, Alex still intended to keep his Talent and Physique hidden. Those were advantages he had no reason to reveal. His combat strength, however, was something people would discover sooner or later.

He also understood that the apocalypse would bring out the worst in many people. If others believed he was weak, some would eventually try to take advantage of him.

On the other hand, obvious strength discouraged many problems before they even started.

There was another benefit as well. A little popularity would make it easier to recruit Ascendants into his future faction for the Tutorial Quest. It would also make gathering information from other survivors much easier.

Holding the phone in one hand, Alex raised his wand with the other. He started recording, gathered mana, and formed a Fire Bullet above the tip of the wand. The compressed sphere of fire burned steadily, distorting the air around it with its intense heat.

Compared to the tiny flame James had demonstrated earlier, the difference was obvious. Alex’s Fire Bullet looked far denser and far more dangerous.

Even without firing it, anyone watching the video could tell the Spell wasn’t ordinary.

Alex didn’t stop there. Since he was already recording, he decided to use the opportunity to train as well. He focused on splitting the Fire Bullet into two separate Spells while keeping both stable.

The instant he attempted it, a sharp pain spread through his head. It felt as though he was trying to drive two different cars on different roads at once. Every bit of concentration he gave one Fire Bullet caused the other to become unstable.

The flames shook violently as he struggled to balance them. One mistake would be enough for both Fire Bullets to explode in front of him. Alex focused and forced himself to remain focused.

’I need to become stronger if I want to save Ava... Mom and Dad,’ he reminded himself.

The reminder strengthened his resolve. It gave him the determination, and desperation he needed. He carefully adjusted the flow of mana again and again, refusing to give up despite the growing strain on his mind.

Gradually, the violent fluctuations began to calm.

A few seconds later, two Fire Bullets floated steadily in front of him. They weren’t as powerful as the blue Fire Bullets he could create when focusing on only one Spell, but they were good enough.

For now, his goal wasn’t to make each Fire Bullet stronger yet. He wanted to learn how to create and maintain two of them at the same time.

He stood up from the bed and walked toward the broken section of the apartment wall. Monsters still roamed the streets below, but he didn’t point his wand at any of them.

From the fourth floor, reaching ground-level targets required him to compress far more fire element mana into the bullets.

The resulting explosion would be too powerful, destroying nearby walls and abandoned vehicles, and it might even kill people hiding inside the buildings.

Instead, he raised his head and looked toward the sky. Several giant flying monsters were circling high above the city.

Four creatures that resembled prehistoric pteranodons were chasing after a lone pigeon, and although they were far away, Alex could follow them easily with his reinforced vision.

He formed two Fire Bullets and carefully stabilized them before firing. Burning fire element mana erupted from the open back of each bullet, launching them across the sky at incredible speed.

The pigeon reacted first, suddenly folding its wings and diving downward as if it had sensed the incoming danger.

The four flying monsters were not nearly as fortunate. They remained focused on their prey until the Fire Bullets struck them almost at the same moment.

A massive explosion bloomed in the sky, briefly lighting up the dim morning over the city before burning fragments scattered in every direction.

[Level 10 Pteranodon killed.]

[Level 10 Pteranodon killed.]

[Level 10 Pteranodon killed.]

[Level 9 Pteranodon killed.]

[Fire Bullet Spell has leveled up. Level 3 → Level 5.]

..

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