SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

Alex stared at the description for a moment before placing the blade back into its sheath. The System’s commentary was as strange as ever.

Still, he couldn’t bring himself to leave the weapon behind. The dead man no longer needed it, while Alex desperately needed a reliable weapon.

A trace of guilt lingered nonetheless. He would have preferred to bury the body if possible, but neither of them had anything suitable for digging a grave.

Before leaving, Alex collected the broken spear shafts. The weapon was damaged, but parts of it could still prove useful. As he pulled the remains free, his attention was drawn to several slash marks on the Level 7 Netherclaw Prowler’s body.

He hadn’t paid much attention to them during the battle. At the time, staying alive had taken priority over everything else. Looking at them now, he realized each slash consisted of five distinct claw marks.

Those wounds had definitely come from a small monster. The thought was both impressive and unsettling. If something that small could injure a monster this powerful, then the dangers lurking in this world were far greater than he had imagined.

"Let’s go," Alex said quietly.

Emma nodded without looking back.

As they walked away, Alex occasionally glanced at the sword in his hand. Logically, he should probably give it to Emma. Her spear had broken because she trusted him with it.

The problem was that he wanted the sword himself.

The previous battle had made one thing abundantly clear. Fighting powerful monsters barehanded was incredibly dangerous, no matter how strong his Body Reinforcement Spell became.

For now, he remained silent. Emma’s mood had clearly worsened after seeing the corpse, and she seemed uninterested in conversation. The two continued walking until they found a relatively safe location sheltered by ruined walls and overgrown vegetation.

They decided to rest. The battle had granted both of them upgrades, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to review what they had gained.

Alex opened his status screen. He still had two unallocated stat points.

Looking back at the battle, he quickly identified his greatest weakness. Mana was his biggest problem. His offensive power was already impressive enough to kill monsters near his level in a single hit, but maintaining that power consumed enormous amounts of mana.

Reducing the amount of mana he used wasn’t really an option. Doing so would weaken his attacks and reduce his speed. Against stronger opponents, that could easily mean death.

After considering it for a moment, Alex made his decision.

[Mana: 7 → 9]

The stat points disappeared immediately. His mana reserves increased once again, and Alex felt noticeably more comfortable.

While examining his status, his attention naturally shifted toward Body Reinforcement Spell. The Spell had reached Level 6 during the battle, which wasn’t particularly surprising.

During the fight, he had learned how to strengthen his arm, back, and brain while simultaneously adjusting mana distribution throughout multiple muscle groups. What surprised him more was the increase in Mind.

At first, he hadn’t understood why it happened. Then the answer became obvious.

During the battle, he had constantly switched his focus between different body parts while fine-tuning mana for dozens of muscles at the same time. That level of control was far beyond anything he had attempted before.

Naturally, his control improved.

’Looking at it this way, fighting might be the fastest way to improve both Spells and stats.’

It made sense. Pressure forced growth far more effectively than safe practice ever could.

Once Alex finished reviewing his status, he looked toward Emma. She remained unusually quiet.

The corpse had affected her more than he initially realized. Near-death experiences were terrifying, but seeing the remains of someone who hadn’t survived seemed to hit differently.

Alex looked at her briefly before deciding to change her focus.

"How did you use mana?" he asked.

Emma raised her head and looked at him with a questioning expression.

"You released a mana pulse to lure the monsters. How does it work?" Alex asked. If she wanted information about his Body Reinforcement Spell in exchange, he was willing to share it. Thinking about it now, he felt glad he hadn’t explained the Spell for free earlier.

"I don’t know how it works. It’s my skill, [Taunt]," she said.

"What?" Alex frowned. Her answer was so simple that it only made him more confused.

"Rogue Classes have skills. We just need to think about using them, and they activate on their own," she explained.

Alex stared at her for a moment. They activated on their own? The idea felt incredibly unfair when compared to the amount of effort he had to put into casting Spells.

During battle, he had to focus on controlling mana, shaping it correctly, and maintaining concentration while fighting. Meanwhile, a Rogue only had to think about using a skill. The difference was difficult to ignore.

Emma seemed to notice his expression and smiled wryly. It was the first different reaction she had shown since seeing the corpse.

"I think you’re misunderstanding something. Rouge Class isn’t as overpowered as you think. We both have our advantages and disadvantages," she said.

..

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