SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

Author’s Note: This is a bonus Chapter for reaching the 50 Golden Tickets milestone. Next bonus Chapter will come when we reach 100 Golden Tickets.

Thank you for your incredible support!

...

That wasn’t all, he could now kill Level 11-12 monsters easily with the upgraded Fire Bullets. Even fatally injuring a Mid-rank Species with one hit might be possible.

Alex opened his eyes, observing the flames. They had changed completely.

Instead of their usual orange color, they burned a deep blue, and although the woven strand was only a few centimeters long, the heat radiating from it was astonishing.

The bullet was several degrees hotter than the previous light blue fire bullets he could create.

Just looking at it filled one’s heart with trepidation.

Even while holding it at arm’s length, Alex could smell the tips of his hair beginning to singe.

This Fire Bullet was stronger than all the Fire Bullets he created previously.

The reason wasn’t difficult to understand. Previously, he simply compressed fire-element mana into a smaller shape, which was similar to crushing a sheet of paper into a ball.

No matter how much force was applied, tiny empty spaces always remained inside.

Mana Cable worked differently. Instead of crumpling the paper, it was like rolling it into thin strips before weaving those strips into a tight braid.

The mana occupied far less space while remaining perfectly uniform, allowing him to compress significantly more fire-element mana without increasing the mental effort required.

There was only one conclusion. His Fire Bullet had just become much stronger.

Alex created an empty bullet casing with mana and carefully filled it with the woven Fire Mana Cable.

Once the spell stabilized, he walked out from beneath the restaurant entrance and stepped into the middle of the road.

His attention remained fixed on controlling the spell, so focused that he barely noticed someone calling his name from behind.

He looked toward the sky. Several vultures-like monsters were still circling high above the city after keeping their distance from his earlier battle. Alex calmly raised his hand, aimed at the closest one, and fired.

The Fire Bullet shot forward as a brilliant blue streak.

It traveled noticeably faster than any Fire Bullet he created before, leaving the monsters almost no time to react.

They let out a terrified screech before the projectile struck it.

The explosion shook the entire street. Blue flames expanded across the sky, swallowing not only the targeted monster but every other monster flying nearby.

Burning feathers drifted downward before crumbling into ash.

Several notifications immediately appeared before Alex’s eyes.

[Level 3 Bone Vulture killed.]

[Level 3 Bone Vulture killed.]

[Level 3 Bone Vulture killed.]

[Fire Bullet Spell has leveled up. Level 7 → Level 8.]

[Mana Cable Spell has leveled up. Level 1 → Level 3.]

Alex smiled faintly as he dismissed the notifications. The increase in power exceeded even his expectations, and the improvement wasn’t limited to destructive force. The projectile had also become much faster.

If he had possessed this version of Fire Bullet inside the Titan Reef Crab Dungeon, he was confident he could have cleared the entire Boss Room without suffering any major injuries, let alone nearly dying.

Even the Leader Titan Reef Crab couldn’t have ignored a direct hit.

...

Rae looked at the young man with surprise as she sat in her wheelchair.

She had known that the explosion that shook the sky earlier came from his building, and suspected he was the reason for it; but it was still surprising to confirm the truth.

Moreover, this explosion was stronger than the one before.

She couldn’t understand how he had so much power in that lean body.

Could this "leveling up" really make someone so strong?

Her gaze slowly dropped to her motionless legs. Over the decades, she accepted that she would never walk again, and the grief had long since faded into quiet acceptance. Yet after witnessing everything this mysterious "System" could do, a thought she hadn’t allowed herself to entertain in years quietly resurfaced.

Perhaps the System could give her legs back as well.

Rae shook her head. None of that mattered right now. Her priority was making sure these kids survived.

She knew she sounded harsh when she demanded the Gene Potential, but she didn’t care about that.

They should be thankful to her.

Someone had to awaken first and take the risk of fighting. She decided to be that person. If something went wrong, it was better that it happened to her than to one of them.

Most people would probably think she should leave everything to Alex since he was clearly the strongest among them.

Rae had no intention of doing that, though.

The poor boy was already carrying more than enough on his shoulders.

She could see the signs even if the others couldn’t. Alex spoke in a detached tone most of the time, as though he had forced himself to suppress his emotions, and he was constantly checking his surroundings for danger.

Those weren’t habits an ordinary college student should have.

Rae had seen those signs before. During the war, she met plenty of soldiers who behaved the same way after experiencing too much in too little time. They tried to act normal, but their bodies never truly relaxed.

Of course, Alex was trying to hide it. Whenever someone looked directly at him, he stopped scanning the surroundings and acted as though nothing was wrong.

What surprised Rae was that he somehow always seemed to notice when someone was watching him.

That wasn’t enough to fool her.

If he could sense direct stares, she simply avoided looking at him head-on. Instead, she watched him through the broken windows of nearby buildings or the rearview mirrors of abandoned cars.

For someone who had spent years in the military, using reflections to observe people without being noticed was second nature.

...

Alex let the wisps of mana around his fingertip fade before lowering his hand.

The test confirmed exactly what he wanted to know. Mana Cable Spell increased the spell’s destructive power by a remarkable amount when it was used alongside Fire Bullet.

Used correctly, it could become one of the most valuable tools in his arsenal.

Satisfied, Alex turned around and headed back toward the restaurant corridor where everyone had been waiting.

As soon as he stepped inside, he noticed that every single person was staring at him. Their expressions were a mixture of awe, shock, and unease, as though they were looking at someone they no longer recognized.

’I forgot they could see the test I was doing,’ Alex thought wryly.

From their perspective, he had casually fired a glowing blue projectile into the sky that exploded with enough force to shake the surroundings.

Right now, he probably looked like someone carrying a grenade in his hand, and that was enough to make people nervous.