SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

If he had actually paralyzed himself, only leveling up could have repaired the damage, but that was impossible until he completed his Class Evolution.

A priest might have been able to heal damaged nerves, but Alex did not think they could do it yet. The priests around him were still too low leveled, and the damage would have reached far deeper than a normal wound. Entrusting his nervous system to them would likely not help him.

Despite nearly crippling himself, Alex found it difficult to feel afraid. Instead, excitement slowly replaced the lingering tension. The discovery he just made opened far more possibilities than he expected.

If mana could reinforce every part of his own body, then where did the limit actually lie?

Could his ears someday become so sensitive that he could hear conversations happening across an entire city? Could his eyesight improve so much that he could see farther than a pair of binoculars?

The theory was enough to make his blood boil. Every answer seemed to lead to another question, and that only made mana more fascinating. The more he learned about it, the less it resembled a simple fuel.

Alex dismissed Advanced Body Reinforcement Spell and stopped reinforcing his neurons.

Then he flooded his right hand with highly compressed mana before activating the spell again, limiting its effect entirely to that hand. The muscles, bones, and nerves immediately became far more durable.

Only then did he begin strengthening the electrical signals inside the neurons of his hand. Reinforcing the tissue first was necessary because the electricity would eventually become strong enough to damage it. Without that protection, the experiment would end before it truly began.

There was still a high chance of failure. The balance between the reinforced tissue and the strengthened electricity was incredibly delicate, and one mistake could permanently destroy the nerves. Even with his control, Alex knew he was walking a razor’s edge.

That was exactly why he had chosen to experiment with only one hand. If everything went wrong, he would lose a hand instead of becoming completely paralyzed. It was still a frightening risk, but it was one he was willing to accept.

Normally, Alex would never gamble with his own body like this. However, if he wanted to become stronger quickly enough to reach his family, he could not avoid every danger.

Growth demanded risks, and this changed world rewarded those willing to take them.

Another reason pushed him forward as well. He genuinely wanted to understand mana. Why did it reinforce only things that belonged to him, yet refuse to strengthen objects like his sword or wand?

Even his fingernails could be reinforced despite being dead tissue. Somehow, mana still recognized them as part of him. Alex could not explain why, but he wanted to uncover the answer.

The lightning element rune raised even more questions. Ordinary mana could not absorb elemental essence, something Alex had already confirmed after experimenting with fire essence before. So why could this particular rune absorb lightning essence so naturally?

The shape itself had to matter.

Alex was convinced the rune would reject every other elemental essence while accepting only lightning.

Somehow, arranging mana into that exact pattern fundamentally changed its properties. Why did it happen? He wanted to know. The more he found out about mana, the more it fascinated him.

Mana almost felt like a beautiful organism governed by hidden laws. Every new discovery revealed another layer waiting to be explored.

Sometimes he wished mana existed on Earth from the beginning. It would’ve made schools and colleges so much more fun.

He gradually strengthened the electricity flowing through the neurons in his hand. The current grew stronger little by little until faint blue arcs started dancing across his fingers.

Tiny sparks crackled through the air, scorching the sleeve covering his wrist.

Somewhere in the distance, Alex vaguely felt like someone was calling his name and telling him to stop.

The voice never became clear because his heightened concentration drowned out every unnecessary distraction.

Inside his mind, the outside world barely existed anymore.

Everything around him had become gray and colorless. Only mana and his own body stood out with perfect clarity. Every thread of mana looked brighter than anything else.

Sweat dripped from his forehead as he carefully adjusted the reinforcement on his hand.

Whenever the electricity became stronger, he immediately increased the durability of the surrounding tissue to match it. The process demanded complete concentration from beginning to end.

The sleeve of his shirt almost caught fire. The fabric burned away under the constant arcs of electricity, yet his reinforced skin remained unharmed. For now, his calculations were still correct.

Alex slowly pressed his glowing hand against his chest. Thin streams of lightning spread into his body, heading toward the unfinished rune stitched into his heart.

Before they could damage anything, he reinforced his chest, heart, lungs, and every nearby organ.

The electricity reached the rune. For a brief moment, nothing changed. Then the mana pattern embedded inside his heart began pulling in tiny portions of the lightning. The process was slow, but it was unmistakable.

Alex smiled faintly, despite the strain on his mind. It worked. His theory had been correct.

He resisted the urge to celebrate and simply allowed the rune to absorb as much lightning essence as it wanted. Minute after minute passed while his concentration steadily wore down.

Maintaining so many precise reinforcements simultaneously pushed even him close to his limit, but he held on. Then something changed.

The feeling was subtle. It was as though a missing piece had quietly slipped into its proper place, completing something that had always been incomplete. The mana rune inside his heart simply felt... whole.

The rune stopped absorbing electricity. Alex had an instinctual feeling that it had become a lighting element rune.

He dismissed the reinforcement on his hand and released the strengthened electrical current.

The blue arcs disappeared, leaving behind only a charred sleeve and the smell of burnt cloth. His hand, however, remained completely intact.

He focused on the elemental rune resting inside his heart. Since he had created it with Mana Cable Spell instead of Mana Circuit Spell, it should have dispersed the moment he stopped holding it together.

Fortunately, he had a way around that problem.

Unlike his muscles, the elemental rune did not constantly consume mana to sustain itself. It only required more mana if part of its structure escaped from his control. As long as he kept a firm hold over every strand of mana forming the rune, it would remain exactly where it was.

Maintaining that control demanded tremendous concentration. From now on, Alex would have to keep Battle Instinct Spell running at a low level almost constantly to prevent his focus from slipping. Rather than feeling burdened, he smiled faintly at the thought.

This was excellent training. He would improve his mana control by constantly maintaining the rune while also learning to operate Battle Instinct Spell with the minimum amount of stamina and mana necessary.

If he mastered that balance, both the spell and his mana control would steadily improve together.

Finally, Alex opened his eyes. He had not even realized when he had closed them during the experiment. Taking a slow breath, he guided ordinary mana from his heart toward the elemental rune.

His heartbeat echoed loudly in his ears as the mana entered one side of the rune. Would it work? Or would it fail?

Mana flowed through the intricate pattern before emerging from the other side. The mana that came out was no longer the same.

Alex almost laughed. It worked! The rune transformed ordinary mana into lightning elemental mana.

He kept his expression calm despite the excitement building inside him. Slowly, he guided the transformed mana out of his body and gathered it into a sphere floating above his open palm. Once enough mana had accumulated, he began compressing it.

The sphere gradually shrank as its density increased. Then, at a certain point, Alex felt as though he had crossed an invisible boundary—a limit. A tiny electric spark appeared inside the compressed mana.

The spark instantly spread through the entire sphere. It was like throwing a lit match into gasoline, igniting everything in a fraction of a second. A crackling ball of lightning floated quietly above his hand.

Alex stared at it for several seconds. It was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen, not just because of how it looked, but also because of what it proved.

He had successfully created lightning element rune.

Satisfied, he gradually lowered the output of Battle Instinct Spell. The unstable mana flooding his brain slowly disappeared, allowing his mind to relax. Only then did he notice the System notifications he had been ignoring.

[Mana Cable Spell has leveled up. Level 4 → Level 6]

[Advanced Body Reinforcement Spell has leveled up. Level 5 → Level 6]

[Mind: 12 → 13]

[Class Evolution Additional Requirement Completed: Create an Elemental Rune (0/1) → (1/1)]

..

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