SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

He was recreating the design of the lightning elemental rune. The knowledge from Lightning Reflex Spell left the rune pattern clearly imprinted in his mind, so he never hesitated over where each line belonged.

Reproducing it on his own heart, however, was far more difficult than remembering its shape.

Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as he continued working. He constantly shifted the mana density of different parts of the cable while making sure the rest of the structure remained stable.

Even with his control, the task pushed him close to his limits.

Alex poured more and more highly compressed mana into his brain, forcing his focus to climb even higher.

The room around him gradually faded until the outside world no longer existed in his awareness.

Only the steady rhythm of his heart and the raging mana flowing through his body remained.

With his attention fixed entirely on his heart, he noticed something he had never truly appreciated before.

The amount of mana gathered there was enormous, almost enough to make him question whether he was looking at his own body. It was like he was watching a deep, unfathomable lake. But he wanted more. To make his mana as big and deep as a sea, as an ocean. One day even beyond.

He continued weaving the mana cable according to the pattern stored in his memory. When the final section settled into place, he paused and observed the result carefully. As expected, nothing happened.

The structure looked correct, but it was not an elemental rune. Alex had only completed the first step of the process.

The second step was giving it lightning essence.

He could simply stick a finger into an electrical socket and obtain lightning essence directly from the current. The thought disappeared almost as soon as it came because he had no intention of electrocuting himself to death.

He needed electricity near the mana rune stitched into his heart, but it had to be weak enough that it would not damage his body.

At the same time, it needed to contain enough lightning essence for the unfinished rune to absorb. Finding that balance was easier said than done.

After thinking for a while, Alex decided to try something crazy—even crazier than etching a rune on his heart. If this worked, his spells’ mastery and mana control would improve tremendously.

He began pouring more highly compressed, unstable mana into his brain, using far more than he had ever attempted before.

His enormous mana pool handled the cost without the slightest sign of strain.

His focus reached a completely different level. Every distracting thought disappeared as his mind sharpened beyond anything he previously experienced.

Without wasting the opportunity, he activated Advanced Body Reinforcement Spell.

Highly compressed yet perfectly uniform mana spread throughout his body. His muscles, organs, bones, and nerves were strengthened simultaneously, yet his mana reserves barely seemed to notice the consumption. He simply had too much mana for this amount to matter.

Alex could not help smiling faintly. This was exactly why had devoted nearly every stat point to Mana from the very beginning.

The feeling of casting powerful spells freely without worrying about running dry was strangely addictive.

He poured even more mana into his brain and used the increased focus to observe his body through mana.

Every movement became remarkably clear.

He slowly moved his fingers while carefully watching what happened inside his body. Muscles contracted, tendons shifted, and nearby blood vessels adjusted naturally with the motion.

His mana allowed him to observe each change with surprising clarity.

Still, it was not enough. He needed to look deeper than muscles and tendons if he wanted to find a source of the electricity.

Without hesitation, he increased the mana flowing into his brain once again.

Alex followed the same principles Battle Instinct Spell used to enhance his mind. However, the sheer amount of mana he supplied pushed the effect far beyond what the spell normally did.

His perception sharpened until he could distinguish individual muscle fibers instead of entire muscles.

He forced his senses even deeper. Soon he could perceive blood cells flowing through his veins as they traveled across his body.

Then, after another careful push, he finally reached the neurons.

Alex moved a finger again while observing the tiny electrical signals traveling through his nerves.

The currents were incredibly weak, but they were unmistakable.

He reinforced the neurons with mana and immediately sensed the electricity becoming stronger and moving faster.

’As expected, this works,’ he thought.

A memory surfaced from his battle against the fast Level 10+ Titan Reef Crab.

The first time he reinforced his spine during that fight, he felt as though electricity was racing through his body. Back then, he assumed it was only his imagination.

Now he understood that the sensation had been completely real. Strengthened electricity truly flowed through his nervous system every time his reinforced neurons transmitted signals.

For a moment, Alex simply observed the currents moving through his body. There was something strangely satisfying about watching them travel from neuron to neuron with perfect precision. He almost wanted to continue experimenting with them.

But that was not his goal.

The electrical current was still too weak for the unfinished rune to absorb. Reinforcing the ’neurons’ alone would never produce enough lightning essence.

If he wanted the process to succeed, he needed to do something crazier. He needed to strengthen the electricity itself.

Mana could reinforce his own body, but it could not strengthen foreign objects. He tested that limitation many times before by trying to reinforce the air he breathed, the food he ate, and even his sword.

None of those attempts ever worked. Otherwise, he could’ve solved the problem of stamina by reinforcing his food.

His own body followed different rules. Even his fingernails, despite being dead tissue, could be reinforced because they were part of "him."

By that same logic, the electricity produced inside his neurons should also qualify, as it was a part of him.

Alex carefully flooded the electrical current with mana. The tiny spark instantly flared, growing far stronger than he anticipated.

His expression changed, and he immediately withdrew the mana before the current could intensify any further.

His heart pounded as he let out a slow breath. Cold sweat ran down his temples. That had been close. He almost fried the neurons by strengthening the electricity too much, and paralyzed himself.

..

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