SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

Alex stared at the notifications with a wry smile. Trying to survive the enormous amount of mana inside his body had unexpectedly benefited him, and his Soul Reinforcement Spell was now only one level away from evolving, while both Minor Heal Spell and Minor Tumor Growth Spell had increased by two levels.

Alex couldn’t help but groan when he saw the last notification. His evolution had significantly improved his attunement to Nature Element Mana, which made controlling it much easier than before, and that was probably why his Minor Heal Spell had leveled up so quickly. The spell itself was still surprisingly difficult to use, and his repeated mistakes had apparently caused his Minor Tumor Growth Spell to improve as well.

Honestly, Alex found it somewhat ridiculous that the spell kept getting improving despite him not deliberately practicing it, especially since he had only ever used it on himself. Still, he wasn’t going to complain about free levels.

He cracked his neck and continued to train the Mana Heart Reinforcement Spell. He could already use the spell to some extent, and it was only slightly short of reaching the level of proficiency required for him to add it to his Status.

Alex continued practicing for a while longer before finally looking around the cave. He noticed Sarah watching him with concern, while Petra was sitting beside her and looked ready to heal him immediately if something went wrong again.

"How are you feeling now?" Sarah asked.

"Better than ever," Alex replied with a faint smile as he slowly stood up and rolled his shoulders. "The improvement from becoming a Mid rank species is massive. Now I understand why Mid rank monsters are so much stronger than the Low rank species monsters we’ve fought before. Honestly, I think we haven’t really encountered a Mid rank species that could properly utilize all of its stats and abilities."

Sarah nodded thoughtfully as Alex looked around the cave. Frank was sitting cross-legged a short distance away and appeared to be asleep, while the egg remained in the same place where they had left it. Joseph, Yulia, and Emma were nowhere to be seen.

"How long was I undergoing the evolution, and what’s the current situation?" Alex asked.

"You were unconscious for roughly twelve hours. Frank went back to Earth. He said things have become dangerous around his base. The monsters coming through the portal have been expanding their territory aggressively, so he decided to return here and evolve his species. He can have more time here. Emma, and Mr. and Mrs. Browns went out to check the surrounding area," Sarah explained.

Alex nodded as he listened before turning his attention back toward Sarah. "I see. What about the night? Has anything changed?"

"It changed a few minutes ago. The night is still here, but the third moon disappeared and the light returned. The water level is also slowly going down," Sarah answered.

Alex’s expression became serious as he thought about it. That was good news, but it wasn’t exactly reassuring because they still didn’t know whether these strange conditions would repeat every night, and if they did, there was no guarantee that the situation would remain as manageable as it was now, if today’s encounters could be called manageable.

One encounter with the wrong monster could be enough to kill them.

The second problem was even more concerning.

Alex turned his head toward the egg. The return of light and the lowering water level meant that its parent could potentially come looking for it, and they had already suspected that the creature inside the egg belonged to a species above Mid rank.

They needed to leave this place and find another hiding spot. Fortunately, they still had some time, and Alex intended to use it properly.

He had spent roughly twelve hours in the Land of Origin, which meant that only around six hours had passed on Earth. He had originally planned to return once the night ended, but considering everything that had happened, he had some time to go back and check if his parents had been rescued.

Alex turned toward Sarah and Petra. "I’m going back to Earth for a while. I just want to check what is happening and make sure everything is alright."

Sarah frowned slightly but didn’t object. "You’ll come back quickly, right?"

"Yes. I’ll only stay long enough to understand what’s happening," Alex replied. Once the day properly arrived, he would go to the Earth and deal with whatever problems appeared there.

Even now, Alex still wanted to abandon everything in the Land of Origin and focus entirely on finding his parents. He was deeply worried about them, but he couldn’t make that decision until he understood what would happen if one of his bodies died, because until then, he couldn’t risk putting either body in unnecessary danger.

’Honestly, is it really possible that if one body dies, both of our bodies will die? I feel like that shouldn’t be true.’

The System had given two bodies to the Pioneers.

Pioneers were the ones who had to explore the Land of Origin first, discover its dangers, and face monsters that their worlds knew nothing about, which meant they were naturally taking enormous risks. Until now, the System had always seemed to follow a simple principle of risk and reward, so if the Pioneers were expected to take such huge risks, there should be corresponding benefits rather than an additional danger where one body dying could kill the other as well.

"Okay," Sarah said with a nod.

Alex was about to return when he suddenly stopped and looked toward the others. "What about you guys? Don’t you want to return to Earth?"

"I’ve already returned once, and Emma has as well. Petra, and Mr. and Mrs. Brown can’t return, though," Sarah replied.

"What?" Alex frowned in confusion.

"Yes, you heard me correctly. They can’t return even though they have enough Origin Energy, and we have no idea why it’s happening," Sarah explained.

..

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