SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

Alex immediately flooded lightning-element mana into the nerves of his legs before sprinting back toward his companions. His body screamed in pain with every step, but he ignored it completely.

He reached the street just in time to see the Doom Bull slam into Ophelia’s shield. The enormous force sent her flying across the road before she crashed onto the pavement, barely keeping hold of the shield.

Before the monster could follow up, Tina and Kevin attacked from opposite sides, hoping to draw its attention away from her.

Their attacks landed, but they accomplished very little. The wounded Doom Bull roared and swung its massive body, flinging both Tina and Kevin away as though they weighed almost nothing.

Even after suffering a fatal wound through its neck, the monster still possessed frightening strength.

Alex narrowed his eyes as he sprinted closer. To him, the Level 10+ Doom Bull was on its last leg, and he could finish it with his eyes closed. To his friends, however, the monster must’ve looked like an unconquerable mountain, yet none of them backed away.

His gaze quickly swept across the battlefield. The two restaurant employees were nowhere to be seen, and he couldn’t tell whether they had fled or simply hidden somewhere nearby.

Either way, the remaining members of the group continued fighting despite the overwhelming difference in strength.

The Doom Bull lowered its head and charged toward Ophelia again before she fully recovered.

She struggled to push herself back onto her feet, leaving almost no chance of avoiding the attack.

Just as the glowing horns were about to reach her, Robert stepped forward and shouted as loudly as he could.

"Hey! Over here! Leave her alone!"

The Doom Bull instinctively turned toward the sound.

That brief distraction was all Rae needed as she calmly pulled the trigger from behind a damaged truck where she had been waiting.

The bullet entered through the monster’s eye and continued directly into its brain.

The Doom Bull took several more heavy steps before its body suddenly stiffened. Its legs buckled beneath its enormous weight, and the beast collapsed onto the road with a thunderous crash. This time, it didn’t move again.

A stream of notifications immediately appeared before Alex.

[Level 10 Jade Scythe Mantis (Mid Rank Species) killed.]

[Level 14 Doom Bull killed.]

[Lightning Reflex Spell has leveled up. Level 1 → Level 2.]

[Advanced Body Reinforcement Spell has leveled up. Level 6 → Level 7.]

[Mana Cable Spell has leveled up. Level 6 → Level 7.]

[Mana Sense Spell has leveled up. Level 4 → Level 5.]

[Mana Bullet Spell has leveled up. Level 3 → Level 4.]

[Elastic Thread Spell has leveled up. Level 2 → Level 3.]

Alex continued scanning the surrounding streets. Only a small part of his attention focused on the notifications while the rest remained alert for another ambush. Fighting monsters this strong had taught him that relaxing too early could easily get someone killed.

Even so, he couldn’t help feeling satisfied as he read through the results. This battle granted more spell level-ups than any fight he had experienced before, including the dungeon boss.

More importantly, every spell that improved was one he regularly relied upon during combat.

His eyes eventually settled on the first notification again.

[Level 10 Jade Scythe Mantis (Mid Rank Species) killed.]

Seeing the words Mid Rank Species finally explained why the mantis had been so overwhelmingly powerful. It wasn’t simply stronger because of its level. It belonged to an entirely superior species, making the victory far more valuable than Alex had first realized.

Just as he prepared to dismiss the notifications, another message caught his attention. He had received it mid-combat, and ignored it until now.

[Mana Blade Spell detected.]

[Would you like to learn Mana Blade Spell?]

[Yes/No.]

’Mana Blade? Not Mana Sword?’ he noticed.

A faint smile appeared on his face. The spell was even better than what he had originally hoped to obtain, which meant the battle had rewarded him with something beyond his expectations. Without wasting another second, he accepted it.

’Yes.’

The notification changed immediately.

[Mana Blade Spell learned.]

[Mana Blade Spell, D Rank, Level 1.]

[I’ll give credit where it’s due. That battle was exciting and blood-pumping! But are we sure you aren’t a berserker trapped inside a mage’s body?]

[Effect: Allows you to create blades from compressed mana.]

Alex ignored the description as always. His attention was already on the spell itself. Mana Blade Spell was D Rank, whereas Mana Sword Spell should have been E Rank, evolved from the F Rank Mana Thread Spell. That confirmed Mana Blade Spell was the stronger spell.

He wanted to test it immediately, but there were other matters to deal with first. Walking over to his friends, he helped Ophelia to her feet before looking at everyone else.

"How are you all feeling?" he asked.

Although all of them had leveled up and their injuries had healed, none of them looked fine. This had been the first battle where they had suffered serious injuries, the first time they had come so close to death, and the first fight where Alex hadn’t been present to watch over them because he had been busy facing a much stronger enemy.

Their bodies had recovered, but the memory of shattered bones and fatal wounds clearly hadn’t faded.

"I’m feeling— Alex!" Ophelia suddenly called out as she turned to face him.

Alex knew immediately why she had reacted that way. Several deep cuts ran across his body, and blood continued to drip from them. The injuries beneath the surface were even worse. He had broken bones in multiple places, and one of his lungs had been punctured.

Even so, he remained standing without much difficulty. He was constantly manipulating mana inside his body, compressing and hardening it to seal his wounds, block the damaged lung well enough for him to breathe, and keep his broken bones from shifting.

As for the pain, Battle Instinct Spell was taking care of that.

"Y-You need to be treated," Ophelia said, unable to hide the worry in her voice.

"I’m okay," Alex replied.

"No, you—"

"I’m okay," Alex repeated, his voice a little firmer this time. The cold calm in his tone, a lingering effect of Battle Instinct Spell, stopped Ophelia from arguing further.

..

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