SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

Alex quietly read through the notifications before smiling to himself. Mana Cable Spell gained two whole levels, reflecting how intensely he refined and manipulated it throughout the experiment.

Advanced Body Reinforcement Spell had also improved, likely because he learned to reinforce his body on a deeper level than before.

The increase to his Mind stat pleased him the most. It was a difficult stat to raise, and every point noticeably strengthened his mana control. Considering how much he relied on focus, this reward was invaluable.

His head still rang from overexertion, and dark spots drifted across his vision whenever he blinked. He had clearly pushed his stamina dangerously close to its limit. Even so, the exhaustion could not erase the satisfaction he felt.

He had taken a risk, and he had been rewarded for succeeding in it.

More importantly, the additional requirement for his Class Evolution was finally complete. Alex could not help wondering what reward awaited him after completing the evolution itself.

...

Ophelia almost shouted for Alex to stop the moment blue arcs of electricity began dancing around his hand.

Her heart skipped a beat because every instinct told her that lightning and the human body were a terrible combination.

She nearly stepped forward before Kevin quietly spoke beside her, "Don’t interrupt him."

"How can you say that? He’s covering himself in lightning. We need to stop him." Ophelia turned toward him in disbelief.

Kevin kept his eyes on Alex. "He understands his own abilities, and mana better than we do. Besides, look carefully. His sleeve is burning, but his hand isn’t. I think he’s trying to learn a new spell, and if we interrupt him now, we might make things worse."

Only then did Ophelia look more closely. Alex’s sleeve had blackened and was slowly burning away from the electrical arcs, yet the skin beneath remained completely unharmed.

The sight was so strange yet shocking that she struggled to understand what she was seeing.

"Wow, Big Brother learned new magic!" Charlotta said excitedly while watching the sparks dance around Alex’s hand.

Ophelia could not share her daughter’s excitement. Her worry only deepened when Alex placed that crackling hand directly against his chest. She instinctively held her breath, expecting the worst to happen at any moment.

Nothing happened.

Instead, the lightning slowly disappeared. Alex opened his hand again, and a perfectly round sphere of crackling lightning floated quietly above his palm.

Ophelia stared at it in silence because she was almost certain lightning was not supposed to work that way.

Yet Alex had somehow done exactly that. A sense of amazement slowly replaced her panic.

How was he doing something like this?

Ophelia found it strangely amusing yet ironic in a way she could not explain. It was as if every assumption she had made about this new world had just been shattered in front of her.

When she decided to leave the apartment building with Alex’s group while everyone else chose to hide, she had believed she was being bold.

Watching Tina grow stronger made her think that perhaps she could become someone special too. Maybe, if she worked hard enough, she could even surpass Alex.

Now she knew better.

Alex was different. He... was special. While everyone else was panicking, still trying to understand what happened to the world, he was already discovering powers that felt almost mystical.

Ophelia lowered her eyes before looking at Charlotta again. A quiet determination slowly settled in her heart as she watched her daughter’s smile. She did not need to become someone like Alex.

She only needed enough strength to protect Charlotta.

Alex had shown her that impossible things could become reality in this changed world. If someone could create lightning with their own hands, then perhaps she could also become stronger than she ever imagined.

With that thought, she silently promised herself that she would protect her daughter and leave the nightmares of their old lives behind.

...

Alex took a slightly larger bite from the Energy Bar before putting the rest back into his inventory. Warmth spread through his body almost immediately, and the dark spots drifting across his vision gradually disappeared. Once he felt steady again, he lowered Battle Instinct Spell even further.

Only then did he notice how exhausted he looked. His clothes were soaked with sweat, and the burned sleeve hanging from his arm smelled faintly of scorched fabric. Mia was staring at him with obvious concern.

The others were not much different. Their expressions were a mixture of shock, doubt, and awe, while every pair of eyes remained fixed on the crackling sphere of lightning floating above his palm.

Alex simply waved his hand, allowing the sphere to disperse into harmless sparks.

"How did you do that?" Tina asked, her eyes wide.

"It’s a new spell," Alex answered vaguely.

That was technically true, although it left out almost everything important. He was not about to explain that he had nearly paralyzed himself because he became fascinated by mana and decided to experiment on his own body.

"Come on! Tell me! You can’t just say that and leave it there. Tell me how you learned it," Tina complained.

"Sure. I’ll tell you once you can use mana," Alex replied.

Tina complained only more. After all, she was a Warrior. Sophia and Robert smiled, seeing Alex and Tina bickering like they always did.

Tina only left him alone after Alex spent a few minutes teaching her the Piercing Punch Technique. She went away to practice it.

As Tina left, Kevin walked over.

"So, how did you really do it?" Kevin asked.

"Is it really that surprising? You’ve already seen me use Fire Bullets," Alex said.

"Those still have the white mana around them, so they don’t look that unusual. What you just made was an actual sphere of lightning. The visual effect was too strong. I think anyone would be surprised after seeing that," Kevin answered with a wry smile.

Alex nodded before changing the subject. "How is your Body Reinforcement Spell practice going?"

"I can finally use it, but it still hasn’t appeared on my status yet. At least it feels like I’m doing it correctly now." Kevin’s expression brightened immediately.

Alex was not surprised. Kevin invested several stat points into Mind after leveling up, so his progress naturally accelerated.

Still, a high Mind stat alone was not enough. It only provided potential, much like having the strength to throw a stone over a hundred meters. Casting a spell was the equivalent of accurately hitting a small target at that distance. The Mind stat was merely a prerequisite for using spells; the real challenge began after that.

That was why Kevin’s face lit up with achievement and satisfaction. He had practiced diligently, and his hard work had paid off.

"Good work. Keep using it, and the spell should appear on your status sooner or later. Also, don’t forget to invest some points into Mana because the ’proper’ spell uses more of it than you would expect," Alex said.

"I’ll keep that in mind." Kevin nodded.

After giving him a few more tips, Alex ended the conversation. Before he could sit down again, Charlotta skipped over with an excited smile.

"Can you make another lightning ball?" the little girl asked hopefully.

Alex immediately knew she was not going to let the matter go easily. He needed something else to grab her attention, only then she would leave him alone. After thinking for a second, he quietly sacrificed the cat to her.

Mia went wide-eye as soon as she realized what he had done. She reached one paw toward Alex, trying to claw him as revenge, but he was prepared and dodged.

Since Charlotta was holding her, Mia could only give up and dramatically went limp.

The little girl happily hugged the cat against her chest. Mia naturally did not scratch her and instead stared at Alex with the strongest glare she could manage.

..

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